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CAMBRIDGE COUNTY GEOGRAPHIES 

General Editor: F. H. H. Guillemard, M.A., M.D. 



SUSSEX 



CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS WAREHOUSE, 

C. F. CLAY, Manager. 

Eontion: FETTER LANE, E.C. 

GFtiinburgb : 100, PRINCES STREET. 




Berlin: A. ASHER AND CO. 

Unpjig: F. A. BROCKHAUS. 

ilieto liorfe: G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS. 

Bomfaag art* Calcutta: MACMILLAN AND CO., Ltd 



[All Rights reserved. 



Cambridge County Geographies 

SUSSEX 

by 

GEORGE F. BOSWORTH, F.R.G.S. 



With Maps, Diagrams and Illustrations 



Cambridge : 

at the University Press 

1909 






Cambri&gr : 

PRINTED BY JOHN CLAY, M.A. 
AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS. 



"b D": 



CONTENTS 



The South-Eastern Peninsula. County and Shire 

The Word Sussex. Its Origin and Meaning- 
General Characteristics. Position and Natural Con 
ditions. Scenery .... 

Size. Shape. Boundaries 

Surface and General Features . 

Watershed. Rivers 

Geology and Soil .... 

Natural History .... 

Climate and Rainfall 

The Coast — Gains and Losses. Its Protection — Sea 
Walls and Groynes. Lighthouses and Lightships 

People — Race, Dialect, Settlements, Population 

Agriculture. Main Cultivations, Woodlands, Stock 

Industries and Manufactures . . 

Minerals. Exhausted Mining Industries 

Fisheries and Fishing Stations 

Shipping and Trade — The Chief Ports. Extinct Ports 
Cinque Ports ...... 



5 
9 

13 
17 
20 
28 
33 

38 
45 
50 
55 
60 

67 

7i 



vi CONTENTS 

PAGE 

1 6. History of Sussex . . . . . . -76 

17. Antiquities — Prehistoric. Roman. Saxon . . 84 

18. Architecture, (a) Ecclesiastical — Churches, Cathedral, 

Abbeys 91 

19. Architecture, (b) Military — Castles . . .100 

20. Architecture. (<:) Domestic — Famous Seats, Manor 

Houses, Cottages . . . . . . .105 

21. Communications — Past and Present — Roads, Rail- 

ways, Canals . . . . . . .111 

22. Administration and Divisions — Ancient and Modern 117 

23. The Roll of Honour of the County . . .123 

24. The Chief Towns and Villages of Sussex . .129 



ILLUSTRATIONS 



Chichester from the Canal 

The Causeway, Horsham 

The Downs near Wannock 

Rye .... 

Wytch Cross . 

Chanctonbury Ring 

The Arun at Arundel 

Fittleworth Bridge . 

View from the Devil's Dyke 

Sun Oak, St Leonard's Forest 

Arundel Castle 

Eastbourne . 

Worthing Sands 

Brighton from the West Pier 

Market Cross and Cathedral, Chichester . 

Strand Gate, Winchelsea 

Oxen at Work on a Sussex Farm . 

Shoreham and the River Adur 

Bosham . 

Pulborough Church 

Hurstmonceux Castle 

Hammerpond Waterfall 

The Dieppe Boat leavin< 

Beachy Head . 

Ypres Tower, Rye . 

Hastings Castle : the Chancel Arch of the Chapel 

The Gateway, Battle Abbey . 

Battle Abbey : the Spot where Harold fell 

Palaeolithic Implement .... 

Neolithic Celt of Greenstone . 

The Long Man, Wilmington . 



Newhaven 



PAGE 

3 

7 



16 
18 
20 
27 
29 
3i 
38 
4i 
42 
46 
48 

53 
56 

57 
61 

63 
66 
69 

70 
73 
75 
79 
82 
86 
86 
89 



Vlll 



ILLUSTRATIONS 











PAGE 


East Lavant Church ..... .90 


Mailing- Hill, Lewes 






92 


The Porch, Bishopstone Church 








94 


New Shoreham Church . 








. 96 


Worth Church .... 








97 


Camber Castle .... 








100 


Pevensey Castle .... 








102 


Bodiam Castle .... 








104 


The Great Hall, Mayfield 








. 107 


Brede Place . . . . . 








108 


Cowdray House, Midhurst 








109 


Old Houses, Petworth 








1 10 


Chichester Cathedral 








1 12 


Lewes Castle : the Entrance Gate . 








115 


Battle Abbey : the Cloister Front . 








1 20 


Christ's Hospital, Horsham 








122 


Parsonage Hall, West Tarring 








124 


Edward Gibbon ..... 








126 


Field Place, Warnham (Shelley's Birthph 


ice) 






127 


Petworth Church .... 








135 


Farm House, Warnham .... 








138 


Diagrams ...... 








140 


MAPS 


Sussex, Topographical ..... Front Cover 


„ Geological ...... Back Cover 


England and Wales, showing annual rail 


lfall . 






35 



The Illustrations on pp. 16, 27, 31, 38, 42, 57, 70, 79, 97, 
and 112 are from photographs by Messrs F. Frith & Co., Ltd., 
Reigate; those on pp. 8, 29, 48, 56, 66, 69, 73, 89, 94, 100, 127, 
and 138, are from photographs by the Homeland Association, Ltd., 
London; those on pp. 75, 82, 102, 115, and 120 are from 
photographs by Mr A. P. Wire, Leytonstone; and that on p. 122 
is from a photograph by M. Bue, Christ's Hospital. 



i. The South=Eastern Peninsula. 
County and Shire. The Word 
Sussex. Its Origin and Meaning. 

The three counties of Kent, Surrey, and Sussex form 
a compact peninsula in the south-east of England, having 
the Thames on the north, and the sea on the east and 
south, while the boundary on the west is formed by 
Berkshire and Hampshire. This south-eastern peninsula 
has always been of the greatest importance in our history, 
for the chief lines of communication between the Con- 
tinent and London pass through one or other of the three 
counties. The Thames is the waterway to London ; the 
roads from Dover, Hastings, Brighton, and Portsmouth 
are the highways through this peninsula to the metropolis; 
and the railways from the chief seaports of the south-east 
carry passengers and goods to the great city. 

It will thus be readily understood that each of these 
three south-eastern counties is of considerable importance 
on account of the proximity of London ; and it is both 
interesting and instructive to have a definite knowledge of 
the past and present condition of all of them. In this 

b. s. i 



2 SUSSEX 

book we are concerned only with Sussex, one of the 
u home counties " as it is called ; and it will be well at 
the outset to discover what is meant by a county, and 
then find out how Sussex came by its name. 

If we look at a map of England we notice that some 
of the counties are large and some are small ; and we also 
find that some of the names end in -shire. Why is there 
this difference in size and name ? It is said in some 
books that King Alfred divided England into counties. 
This, of course, is quite wrong, for although that great 
King did many things in his eventful reign, he certainly 
did not bring about the division of England into counties. 
We know that while some of the counties existed before 
his time, others were not formed till long after his death. 

The fact is that some of our present counties, such as 
Kent, Surrey, and Sussex, are survivals of the old English 
kingdoms, which have kept their former names and extent. 
Others of our counties are shires, or shares of former large 
kingdoms, such as Mercia, or Wessex, or Northumbria. 
Thus Staffordshire was once a part of Mercia, Yorkshire 
of Northumbria, and Hampshire of Wessex. It may be 
said quite correctly that our English counties have grown, 
and it is this gradual growth that makes their history so 
interesting. 

When we investigate the boundaries and extent of 
the counties we find that they often represent the districts 
of tribes or kingdoms. Thus Kent was first the possession 
of a British tribe, the Cantii, which was afterwards con- 
quered by the Jutes ; and Sussex was a kingdom formed 
by the Saxons in the fifth century. The present county 



THE SOUTH-EASTERN PENINSULA 3 

of Sussex corresponds more or less to that ancient kingdom, 
though it may at one time have extended further to the 
west. The story of the colonisation of Sussex is given in 
the English Chronicle^ and we shall make further reference 
to this fact in another chapter. Here we may notice in 




Chichester from the Canal 



passing that Aelle is generally recognised as the founder 
and first king of Sussex, and that he landed near the 
present city of Chichester in 477 and did not complete 
his work of conquest till 491. For a period of upwards 
of fourteen centuries Sussex lias ranked as one of the 



4 SUSSEX 

English kingdoms, or counties, and of all the English 
counties it is the most typical, and, perhaps, the most 
natural. 

This is a very remarkable fact, and one of the deepest 
interest to us in our study of the geography and history of 
Sussex. We shall understand these much better if we 
grasp this fact clearly, that many of our counties are the 
same, or nearly the same, as the first English kingdoms, 
which were never less than seven in number, and often 
far more numerous. If we look at the map of England 
it will be seen that the physical features of Sussex mark it 
out at once as a distinct and separate region ; and its 
history shows it as always an independent kingdom, or a 
well-defined county, keeping the same essential boundaries 
throughout its entire existence. Even when Wessex 
conquered Sussex, the kingdom of the South Saxons 
continued to have its own under-kings. When Sussex 
gradually dropped from the rank of a kingdom to that of 
a county, it came to be amalgamated with the rest of 
England. 

There is thus no difficulty in tracing the origin of 
its name, which it obtained from the Saxon conqueror. 
Essex the land of the East Saxons, Wessex the land of 
the West Saxons, and Sussex the land of the South Saxons 
are all quite obvious in their origin. The Saxons were 
a Teutonic people who first began to trouble the British 
coasts before the Romans went away. They came from 
the districts we now call Holstein, Westphalia, Hanover, 
and Brunswick ; and wherever they settled they called the 
land after their own name. This is no doubt the reason 



THE SOUTH-EASTERN PENINSULA 5 

why the Keltic people in Scotland, Wales, and Ireland 
call all Englishmen Saxons to this day; but we English 
people must remember that Saxon by itself always meant 
the people of those parts only where the Saxons settled. 

It is now quite clear why Sussex is a separate county, 
and why its boundaries should be what they are. We 
may look upon Sussex as a typical instance of an old 
English kingdom becoming a county and retaining a 
certain local independence of its own to the present day. 

2. General Characteristics. Position 
and Natural Conditions. Scenery. 

In the previous chapter we have seen that Sussex is 
perhaps the most typical, and the most natural, of all the 
English counties. Its physical features mark it out as 
a distinct and separate whole, and its history shows that it 
has always been either a well-defined kingdom or county, 
preserving the same boundaries and extent throughout its 
existence. If we study a good map of the county, we 
find a long spur of chalk, forming the South Downs, runs 
through it like a backbone till it terminates at Beachy 
Head. 

Between the South Downs and the coast there is 
a narrow belt of lowland, and this belt, small as it is, 
really comprises the whole of historical Sussex. On their 
northern side, the Downs descend by a steep escarpment 
into the wide valley of the Weald, of which a broad view 
is gained from the summit of the Devil's Dyke, near 
Brighton. The country between the North and South 



6 SUSSEX 

Downs was once covered by chalk, but this has been 
worn away, and the district is now occupied by the soft, 
muddy Weald clay, and the harder beds of Hastings Sand. 
It will be seen that this wide tract extends along the 
northern border of the county from the Downs to the 
boundaries of Kent and Surrey, and from Petersneld 
in Hampshire to Pevensey, Hastings, and the Romney 
Marshes. 

The Sussex Weald was for many ages untilled and 
uncleared, and formed a great stretch of forest known to 
the Romans as Silva Anderida, and to the English as the 
Andredesweald. The cold clay of the Weald can support 
little more than trees, and even in our own days it is only 
scantily cultivated. In early times, this belt of forest was 
dense and trackless, forming a barrier to intercourse with 
other parts of the country; and it is this isolation of Sussex 
by the Weald and the Marshes which makes the history 
of Sussex so peculiar and so typical. 

It will be seen in a later chapter that Sussex is 
essentially an agricultural county, and as such enjoys 
many advantages, owing largely to its position and climate. 
It has a long sea coast fronting the English Channel from 
the borders of Hampshire to some distance beyond Rye • 
and its climate, bracing and healthy in the higher parts, 
is genial and salubrious near the sea. From Bognor in 
the west to Hastings in the east there is a succession 
of delightful watering-places — holiday and health resorts 
which are thronged in the season by thousands of people 
from our great crowded cities. The influx of these seekers 
after pleasure and health makes Sussex familiar to all 



GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS 7 

sorts and conditions of men, and brings some amount 
of prosperity to a county that has suffered from agri- 
cultural depression and the fall in prices. The number 
of large towns in Sussex is restricted, and the greater 
part of the population is gathered in the towns on the 
coast. The district of the Weald has only two small 




The Causeway, Horsham 



towns, Horsham and Midhurst ; and its villages support 
a scanty population by agriculture, hop-picking, dairying, 
and cattle-rearing. 

Sussex will always be associated with the chief event 
in our nation's story, for it was at Pevensey, in 1066, 
that William the Norman landed, and bavins; defeated his 



8 SUSSEX 

enemy at Hastings, proceeded to make himself the master 
of our country. The battle of Hastings is the great 
turning-point that marks the close of one epoch, and the 
beginning of a new era. There are some who assert that 
Julius Caesar landed in Sussex, but there is far more 
evidence that the Romans entered England by Kent. 




The Downs near Wannock 



The landing of William at Pevensey was probably a far 
greater event than the coming of Julius Caesar, and 
Sussex people may well be content to remember that 
it was one of the first English kingdoms to be formed by 
Aelle, one of the first to be Christianised by Wilfrid, and 
the scene of the contest that made England the kingdom 
of William the Conqueror. 



GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS 9 

The scenery of Sussex does not vie with that of 
Wales, or Derby, or the Lake district, but it has a type 
of natural beauty that gives it a peculiar charm. It has 
neither rivers of striking beauty, nor mountains of any 
great height. It has no lakes, and its sea-coast scenery 
is not so fine as that of Yorkshire or Devonshire. 
Yet the scenery of the South Downs and the Forest 
Ridge is exceeded in beauty and interest by few parts of 
England. It has been well said that " the crown of the 
county's scenery is the Downs, and the most fascinating 
districts are those which the Downs dominate." 

Perhaps no modern writer has done more to extol 
Sussex than Rudyard Kipling, who is a resident in the 
county. Here is a stanza from one of his Sussex poems : 

" God gave all men all earth to love, 

But since man's heart is small, 
Ordains for each one spot shall prove 

Beloved over all. 
Each to his choice, and I rejoice 

The lot has fallen to me 
In a fair ground — in a fair ground — 

Yea, Sussex by the sea ! " 



3. Size. Shape. Boundaries. 

In the two previous chapters we have learnt how 
Sussex, once a Saxon kingdom, came to be a county, and 
we have read about its characteristics. We are now, 
with the aid of the map, going to study its size, shape, 
and boundaries. 



10 SUSSEX 

First with regard to the size of the county, we may 
say that the present county has varied little since it was 
first formed more than a thousand years ago. Perhaps 
it then extended a little more to the west, but on the 
whole we shall be tolerably safe in saying that its area 
has been much the same in the whole course of its history. 
We are of course speaking of the ancient county, for there 
is also another way in which some of the counties are 
named since the passing of the County Councils Act in 
1888. It was then arranged that a few of our English 
counties should be subdivided for purposes of administra- 
tion, and under this Act the ancient county of Sussex was 
divided into the administrative counties of West Sussex 
and East Sussex. This will make it quite clear that 
whenever we refer to the larger Sussex we shall speak 
of it as the Ancient County, and when we refer to the 
two divisions we shall speak of them as the Administrative 
County of East Sussex, and the Administrative County 
of West Sussex. 

Sussex is a maritime county in the south-east of 
England, lying along the English Channel. It has an 
area of 933,887 acres, or about 1459 square miles. It is 
thus somewhat smaller than Kent, nearly twice as large 
as Surrey, and occupies about one thirty-fourth of the 
entire area of England and Wales. Of the two divisions, 
the Administrative County of East Sussex is the larger, 
having an area of 528,807 acres, while West Sussex has 
an extent of 403,602 acres. A small portion of Sussex 
is included in the adjacent counties of Kent, Surrey, and 
Hampshire for local government purposes. 



SIZE SHAPE BOUNDARIES 11 

The greatest measurement of Sussex from east to west 
is about 73 miles, and 27 miles is its extreme breadth from 
north to south. The average of the latter is probably about 
20 miles, but it will be noticed that the county narrows 
considerably in the east. The most northerly point is 
where the Oxted and Groombridge railway line leaves 




Rye 



the county, while Selsey Bill is the most southerly point. 
The extreme point on the east is about five miles east of 
Rye, and on the west the extreme point is just to the 
north of Rowland's Castle. 

Sussex is one of the most compact of the English 
counties, being in shape somewhat of an irregular parallelo- 



12 SUSSEX 

oram. Its boundaries were settled long before the Norman 
conquest, and it is not at all difficult to trace their origin. 
The English Channel from east to west is the boundary 
on the south side, and there is every reason to believe 
that there were two settlements of the Saxons, one at 
Chichester and another at or near Pevensey. Thus it 
came about that the Saxon settlers took the whole coast-line 
from beyond Pevensey to Chichester. Having established 
themselves along the sea-coast the invaders slowly worked 
their way northwards. This was a long and difficult 
affair, for Sussex was then covered with the great and 
dense forest of Andredsweald. At length, however, the 
South Saxons pushed their way till they reached a high 
ridge in the midst of the district we now call the Weald. 
There they found the Saxons from the north were in 
possession of the land north of this ridge, and as the 
outcome of some agreement there is no doubt that this 
dividing line was adopted as the boundary between Sussex 
on the south and Surrey on the north. 

On the west, Hampshire forms the boundary, which 
was drawn through the extensive woodlands on this side. 
The boundary on the east and north-east is artificial and 
irregular, and divides the county from Kent. It is not 
necessary to go into details, but it is generally thought 
that the Kentish kingdom had pushed itself as far west 
as it wished to go, and beyond that line Sussex was 
allowed to exist. We can now see that Sussex was 
originally a kingdom between Wessex on the west and 
Kent on the east, and between Surrey on the north and 



SIZE SHAPE BOUNDARIES 13 

the English Channel on the south. Its physical features 
mark it out at once as a distinct and separate whole ; and 
its history shows it as always an independent kingdom 
or a well-defined county, preserving the same boundaries 
throughout its entire existence. 



4. Surface and General Features. 

A glance at the map will show us that so far as 
regards the surface of the land Kent, Surrey, and Sussex 
have many points in common. Each county is intersected 
by a range of hills that runs from west to east, and each 
has within its borders the remains of the ancient forest 
formerly known as Andredsweald. The physical features 
of Sussex are somewhat similar to those of Kent, but they 
have a more marked character, and the rugged south- 
eastern portion of the county resembles the hilly and 
beautiful region of south-west Surrey. 

The physical features of the county may be considered 
under three divisions. First, there is the Weald of Sussex 
in the northern part ; secondly the high lands, known 
as the South Downs, and the Wealden Heights or Forest 
Ridge in the south-east ; and thirdly the low coastal plain 
stretching from Brighton to Selsey. 

The Weald was till modern times one of the wildest 
and least inhabited parts of England. The heights 
which form the water-parting were covered with dense 
masses of forest, and were traversed only by narrow 
lanes or mule-tracks. The country is now brought under 
cultivation, but is still thinly peopled, and has, as we 



14 



SUSSEX 



have already seen, only two small towns, Horsham and 
Midhurst. The Weald of Sussex extends from Pevensey 
Bay to the hills beyond Petworth, and, although called 
a plain, it has several hills of 300 feet and over. 




Wytch Cross 



The Forest Ridge is the highest part of the Hastings 
Sand, and has some very picturesque scenery, quite different 
from that of the other natural divisions of the county. It 
is exceeded in beauty and interest by few parts of England. 



SURFACE AND GENERAL FEATURES 15 

The northern portion begins east of Horsham and reaches 
a height of about 500 feet. Its western part is thickly 
wooded by the forests of St Leonard, Tilgate, and Worth ; 
but in the east the woods are not so noticeable. At 
Wytch Cross the hills reach a height of 658 feet, and 
then follow the wild uplands of Ashdown Forest, one 
of the most beautiful parts of Sussex. The Forest Ridge 
rises to its highest point at Crowborough Beacon, which 
is 792 feet above the sea. The southern portion of the 
Forest Ridge may be distinctly traced as the southern 
boundary of the Rother valley, and becomes a marked 
line of hills passing by Heathfleld till it attains the 
height of 620 feet at Brightling Beacon. The Forest 
Ridge continues in a south-easterly direction till it reaches 
the sea at Fairlight, near Hastings. 

The most remarkable feature in the surface and scenery 
of Sussex is the bold and open range of chalk hills, called 
the South Downs, extending into it from Hampshire, and 
stretching in nearly an easterly direction for a distance of 
53 miles to Beachy Head, which rises perpendicularly above 
the shore to a height of over 500 feet. Their northern 
declivity is precipitous, but on the south their descent is 
gradual, except in the neighbourhood of Brighton, where 
they form some lofty cliffs. Gilbert White described the 
South Downs as a u chain of majestic mountains." This 
of course was the exaggeration of a home-keeping man 
who truly loved this district. The average height of the 
South Downs is about 500 feet, and the highest points 
are Duncton Down, 837 feet, Linch Down, 818 feet, and 
Ditchling Beacon, 813 feet. 



16 



SUSSEX 



The views from the Downs are exceedingly fine and 
extend far over the Weald on the north, or towards 
the sea-coast on the south. Picturesque villages nestle 
under the foot of the hills, and the clusters of cottages, 
some thatched, some tiled, and all built of flint or boulders, 
are quite characteristic of Sussex. The South Down 
shepherds are now almost extinct. They were a very 




Chanctonbury Ring 

peculiar race, and used to live in caves, or in huts dug 
into the side of a bank, and lined with heath or straw. 
The coastal plain, southward of the Downs, extends 
from their base to the sea. It is a fertile and well- 
cultivated district, which, in its eastern extremity between 
Brighton and Shoreham, is, for the most part, about a mile 
in width. Between the rivers Adur and Arun the plain 



SURFACE AND GENERAL FEATURES 17 

increases to three miles, and from the Arun westward to 
the borders of Hampshire its breadth varies from three 
to seven miles. Extensive tracts of marshland are ad- 
jacent to the coast between Pevensey and Rye, and others 
are situated on the lower parts of the course of the rivers 
Ouse, Adur, and Arun. 



5. Watershed. Rivers. 

The river system and drainage of Sussex belong to 
a region that stretches from Wiltshire on the west to Kent 
on the east, and the map will show that the watershed of 
this portion of England is along the line of the Wealden 
uplift. From this high land the Wey, the Mole, and the 
Medway flow northwards into the Thames, and the Salis- 
bury Avon, the Itchen, and, in Sussex, the Arun, and the 
Sussex Ouse flow southwards to the sea. It is also worth 
noticing that all the more eastern rivers of this region 
rise in the centre of the Weald, and cut gaps through the 
North or South Downs. In Sussex, for instance, the 
Arun and the Ouse flow through gaps near Arundel and 
Lewes, and the same may be said of the small Sussex 
rivers, the Adur and the Cuckmere. 

The Sussex rivers are tolerably numerous, but are all 
of small size, and of little commercial importance. They 
all rise within the county, and, with the exception of the 
Mole, which rises in the Forest Ridge and enters Surrey, 
every stream has the same direction from the north to the 
English Channel. Commencing on the west, the chief 

b. s. 2 



18 



SUSSEX 



rivers are the Arun, the Adur, the Ouse, the Cuckmere, 
the Ashburne, and the Rother. 

The Arun has its main source in St Leonard's Forest, 
but some of its feeders pass west of the Forest Ridge and 




The Arun at Arundel 



flow from further northwards. The main stream passes 
Horsham and after a short distance turns south near Slinfold. 
When it reaches Stopham its waters are increased by a 



WATERSHED RIVERS 19 

tributary, the West Rother, which rises in the north-west 
of the county. Its course is now very winding and it flows 
through a rich tract of marshes, and by the town of 
Arundel to the sea at Littlehampton. The tide flows 
up the Arun for a distance of seventeen miles to Amberley. 
The scenery of the Arun is generally tame, but its broad 
stream adds to the charm of the district around Arundel. 
The river is celebrated for its mullets. 

The Adur also rises in St Leonard's Forest, and 
pursues a southward course by Steyning and Bramber 
to Shoreham, where it takes an easterly direction, nearly 
parallel with the coast, falling into the sea a little to the 
west of Brighton. 

The Ouse is formed by the junction of two streams, 
one of which rises in the forest of Worth, and the 
other in that of St Leonard. They unite near Cuck- 
field, whence the Ouse, proceeding first eastward, and 
then southward, passes the town of Lewes to the sea 
at Newhaven. 

The Cuckmere, a very small river, rises near Heath- 
field, and flows into the sea at Cuckmere Haven, near 
Beachy Head. 

The Rother has its source at Rotherfield, near Ash- 
down Forest, whence it proceeds eastward and soon 
becomes the boundary between Sussex and Kent. After 
passing the Isle of Oxney, in the latter county, it suddenly 
turns southward across the eastern extremity of Sussex. 
It then expands into an estuary, and reaches the sea below 
the town of Rye, whose harbour it forms. The mouth 
of the Rother was formerly at New Romney, but in the 



20 



SUSSEX 



reign of Edward I it deserted its old channel for the 
present one. 




Fittleworth Bridge 



6. Geology and Soil. 

By Geology we mean the study of the rocks, and we 
must at the outset explain that the term rock is used by 
the geologist without any reference to the hardness or 
compactness of the material to which the name is applied ; 
thus he speaks of loose sand as a rock equally with a hard 
substance like granite. 

Rocks are of two kinds, (i) those laid down mostly 
under water, (2) those due to the action of fire. 



GEOLOGY AND SOIL 21 

The first kind may be compared to sheets of paper 
one over the other. These sheets are called beds, and such 
beds are usually formed of sand (often containing pebbles), 
mud or clay, and limestone, or mixtures of these materials. 
They are laid down as flat or nearly flat sheets, but may 
afterwards be tilted as the result of movement of the 
earth's crust, just as you may tilt sheets of paper, folding 
them into arches and troughs, by pressing them at either 
end. Again, we may find the tops of the folds so pro- 
duced washed away as the result of the wearing action of 
rivers, glaciers and sea-waves upon them, as you might 
cut off" the tops of the folds of the paper with a pair of 
shears. This has happened with the ancient beds forming 
parts of the earth's crust, and we therefore often find them 
tilted, with the upper parts removed. 

The other kinds of rocks are known as igneous rocks, 
which have been melted under the action of heat and 
become solid on cooling. When in the molten state 
they have been poured out at the surface as the lava of 
volcanoes, or have been forced into other rocks and cooled 
in the cracks and other places of weakness. Much 
material is also thrown out of volcanoes as volcanic ash 
and dust, and is piled up on the sides of the volcano. 
Such ashy material may be arranged in beds, so that it 
partakes to some extent of the qualities of the two great 
rock groups. 

The production of beds is of great importance to 
geologists, for by means of these beds we can classify the 
rocks according to age. If we take two sheets of paper, 
and lay one on the top of the other on a table, the upper 



22 SUSSEX 

one has been laid down after the other. Similarly with 
two beds, the upper is also the newer, and the newer will 
remain on the top after earth-movements, save in very 
exceptional cases which need not be regarded by us here, 
and for general purposes we may regard any bed or set of 
beds resting on any other in our own country as being 
the newer bed or set. 

The movements which affect beds may occur at 
different times. One set of beds may be laid down flat, 
then thrown into folds by movement, the tops of the 
beds worn off, and another set of beds laid down upon the 
worn surface of the older beds, the edges of which will 
abut against the oldest of the new set of flatly deposited 
beds, which latter may in turn undergo disturbance and 
renewal of their upper portions. 

Again, after the formation of the beds many changes 
may occur in them. They may become hardened, pebble- 
beds being changed into conglomerates, sands into sand- 
stones, muds and clays into mudstones and shales, soft 
deposits of lime into limestone, and loose volcanic ashes 
into exceedingly hard rocks. They may also become 
cracked, and the cracks are often very regular, running in 
two directions at right angles one to the other. Such 
cracks are known as joints, and the joints are very important 
in affecting the physical geography of a district. Then, 
as the result of great pressure applied sideways, the rocks 
may be so changed that they can be split into thin slabs, 
which usually, though not necessarily, split along planes 
standing at high angles to the horizontal. Rocks affected 
in this way are known as slates. 



GEOLOGY AND SOIL 23 

If we could flatten out all the beds of England, and 
arrange them one over the other and bore a shaft through 
them, we should see them on the sides of the shaft, the 
newest appearing at the top and the oldest at the bottom, 
as shown in the figure. Such a shaft would have a depth 
of between 10,000 and 20,000 feet. The strata beds are 
divided into three great groups called Primary or Palaeozoic, 
Secondary or Mesozoic, and Tertiary or Cainozoic, and the 
lowest of the Primary rocks are the oldest rocks of Britain, 
which form as it were the foundation stones on which the 
other rocks rest. These may be spoken of as the 
Precambrian rocks. The three great groups are divided 
into minor divisions known as systems. The names of 
these systems are arranged in order in the figure with 
a very rough indication of their relative importance, 
though the divisions above the Eocene are made too 
thick, as otherwise they would hardly show in the figure. 
On the right hand side, the general characters of the rocks 
of each system are stated. 

With these preliminary remarks we may now proceed 
to a brief account of the geology of the county. 

The main geological divisions of Sussex belong to 
what is called the Valley of the Weald, and are largely 
connected with the history of the chalk formation. Most 
of the formations belong to the group called Secondary, of 
which the chalk is uppermost ; but in the west of Sussex 
there is a flat stretch formed by Tertiary Strata. The 
geological map will help us to realise that the central part 
of the Weald is formed by the Hastings Sands, round 
which there lies in a ring the Wealden Clay. Then 



Names or 
Systems 

Recent & Pleistocene 
-{ Pliocene 
Eocene 

[ Cretaceous 

SECONDARY i Jurassic 

Triassic 
( Permian 



Carboniferous 



PRIMARY 



Devonian 



Silurian 



Ordovician 



Cambrian 



Pre-Cambrian 



Characters of Rocks 

sands, superficial deposits 
clays and sands chiefly 

chalk at top 

sandstones, mud and clays below 

shales, sandstones and 
oolitic limestones 

red sandstones and marls, gypsum and 

salt 
red sandstones & magnesian limestone 



sandstones, shales and coals at top 
sandstones in middle 
limestone and shales below 



red sandstones, 

shales, slates and limestone 



sandstones and shales 
thin limestones 



shales, slates, 
sandstones and 
thin limestones 



slates and 
sandstones 



sandstones, 
slates and 
volcanic rocks 



GEOLOGY AND SOIL 25 

succeeds the ring of the Lower Greensand, which is 
encircled by the Gault and Upper Greensand; and lastly 
there is the broad belt of the Chalk. 

The oldest strata in Sussex come to the surface in 
the Weald, although some older deposits were penetrated 
by a deep boring near Battle. It may be stated generally 
that while the newest deposits occur in the south and 
south-west, the oldest rocks are found in the north-east. 
These belong to the Jurassic system, and although attempts 
have been made to reach the Coal Measures, they have up 
to the present been without success. 

The Cretaceous rocks follow the Jurassic without 
a break, and in their lower part the deposits consist 
mainly of sands, commonly known as Hastings and Tun- 
bridge Wells Sands. Here it may be mentioned that 
when some borings were recently made at Waldron, an 
inflammable gas was struck in the Fairlight Clay. This 
gas was found to be a genuine petroleum, and has been 
used for lighting the railway station and offices. 

The Lower Greensand succeeds these last strata and 
is mainly sandy deposits with beds of harder rock. The 
sands are commonly striped with green, from the presence 
of small grains of a dark green mineral — glauconite. 
This mineral is an iron compound, which readily oxidises 
when exposed, and then the sands take the buff or rusty 
hue which makes people wonder why they are called 
Greensand. 

Above the Lower Greensand is the Gault, a stiff, 
dark blue clay about 300 feet thick and fossiliferous. The 
Upper Greensand follows, and is from 90 to 100 feet 



26 SUSSEX 

thick in West Sussex. The Greensand passes into the 
Chalk, which covers nearly one-third of Sussex, and 
forms a sharply defined region unlike any other in the 
county, known as the South Downs. The Chalk has a 
thickness of about iooo feet in Sussex, and forms a dry 
region with no springs or flowing water, except in the 
lowest valleys. The greater part of the Downs forms 
open, rolling country, bare and treeless, but covered with 
excellent pasture, or with light calcareous soil readily 
worked by the plough. 

The Chalk formation may be considered under three 
divisions : first, the Lower Chalk, which consists of 
greyish marl in alternate hard and soft beds which make 
conspicuous ledges in the foreshore, and at the base of 
cliffs between Eastbourne and Beachy Head. The Lower 
Chalk has a thickness of 150 to 200 feet ; and although 
not much water is obtained from it, hydraulic lime is 
produced in considerable quantities. Second, the Middle 
Chalk, which is hard, splintery, and full of fossils ; and 
thirdly, the Upper Chalk, which is purer white, and 
softer than the Middle, and yielding flints, which are 
almost confined to it. The best places to study the 
Chalk in Sussex are the cliffs between Eastbourne and 
Brighton, and in the large pits near Lewes. 

The Chalk is succeeded by the Woolwich and Reading 
series of rocks. Here we find quite a change of condi- 
tions, for we are now in the Eocene system and these 
beds contain a quantity of remains of plants and animals. 
This formation stretches from the west border through 
Chichester and Arundel to Worthing and Brighton. The 



GEOLOGY AND SOIL 



27 



Reading Beds are more prominent in the west, and the 
Woolwich Beds in the east. These rocks consist of red- 
mottled plastic or pottery clay, with seams of lignite, flint 
pebbles, and sand. 

The London Clay lies over the last rocks : in Sussex 
it is more sandy than in the London Basin, and is of a 
dark blue colour. The Bracklesham Beds which succeed 




View from the Devil's Dyke 

the London Clay are among the most interesting deposits 
in the county. They are confined to the Selsey Peninsula, 
and have a thickness of about 500 feet. They consist of 
clays and marls, and contain remains of tropical animals 
and plants, such as turtles, crocodiles, sharks, palms, and 
pines. 

The deposits above the Bracklesham Beds belong to 



28 SUSSEX 

the most recent formations, consisting as they do of valley 
gravel, brick earth, blown sand, peat, and alluvium ; and 
with this brief notice of Nature's work which is going on 
in our own times we may fitly conclude our sketch of 
the geology of Sussex. 

With reference to the soil of Sussex, it may be said 
that the Weald is generally fertile and richly wooded ; 
that the district westward from Brighton to the Hamp- 
shire boundary is a very productive tract, from two to 
seven miles broad ; and that in the south-east the rich 
marshlands afford excellent pasturage. 



7. Natural History. 

Various facts, which can only be shortly mentioned 
here, go to show that the British Isles have not existed as 
such, and separated from the Continent, for any great 
length of geological time. Around our coasts, for instance, 
are in several places remains of forests now sunk beneath 
the sea and only to be seen at extreme low water. 
Between England and the Continent the sea is very 
shallow, but a little west of Ireland we soon come to very 
deep soundings. Great Britain and Ireland were thus 
originally part of the Continent, and are examples of 
what geologists call continental islands. 

But we also have no less certain proof that at some 
anterior period they were almost entirely submerged. 
The fauna and flora thus being destroyed, the land would 
have to be restocked with animals and plants from the 



NATURAL HISTORY 



29 



Continent when union again took place, the influx of 
course coming from the east and south. As however it 
was not long before separation occurred, not all the 
continental species could establish themselves. We should 
thus expect to find that the parts in the neighbourhood of 
the Continent were richest in species, and those furthest 
off poorest, and this proves to be the case both in plants 




Sun Oak, St Leonard's Forest 



and animals. While Britain has fewer species than 
France or Belgium, Ireland has still less than Britain. 

Owing to the varieties of soil on the downs, in the 
Weald, in the forests, and along the seaboard, Sussex is 
one of the most interesting of our southern counties with 
regard to its flora. It is estimated that of i960 species of 



30 SUSSEX 

plant-life in Great Britain, no less than 1159 are found in 
this county. The samphire, once so abundant, is still to 
be met with sparingly in all directions. Its collection 
once gave employment to cliffsmen, but is now a lost 
Sussex industry. The pretty rosy sea-heath {Frankenid) 
occurs along the shore in marshy flats, and the proliferous 
pink [Dtanthus prolifer), one of the rarest flowers, is now 
found only near Selsey. 

Among the most pleasing of the plants growing on the 
downs are the bell flowers — the pale blue harebell, and 
the clustered bell flower {Campanula glomerata) with its 
blossoms of a deep rich purple. Perhaps the most beautiful 
of all the plants sirowinsi on the chalk is the round-headed 
rampion (Phyteuma orblculare) locally called the " Pride of 
Sussex." It occurs only in the south of England, and 
abounds on Beachy Head. Sussex is richer in orchids 
than any other county in England except Kent. A large 
number of the orchids love the chalk, many delight in 
the beechen u hangers," and others have their homes in 
the boggy lands at the foot of the Downs. 

Sussex is a well wooded county, and further reference 
will be made to its great extent of forest land. The 
forests of St Leonard, Tilgate, and Worth, and the 
woods of Charlton, Goodwood, and Chilgrove have an 
abundance of trees. The fir, beech, birch, and pine are 
the principal trees, but in the Wealden district the oak is 
numerous. It is worthy of note that the yew is a specially 
common feature of the Sussex churchyards. 

The wild animals of Sussex are similar to those in 
most English counties. The fox, stoat, and weasel are 



NATURAL HISTORY 



31 



generally distributed throughout the county, the squirrel 
is abundant, and the otter is found in most of the large 
streams of the east. The badger fully holds its own in 
many parts, and near Hastings there is hardly a parish 
where he is not to be found. 

Deer are very numerous in the many parks of Sussex, 
and probably no equal area of England contains so great 




Arundel Castle 



a number. The red deer are found in Buckhurst, 
Arundel, and Eridge Parks; while the fallow deer are 
still more numerous in the parks just mentioned, and in 
several others. The fallow deer of Sussex are second to 
none in size and superiority of their venison, while those 
in Petworth Park are said to be the finest in Great 
Britain. The roe-deer, the smallest and most beautiful 



32 SUSSEX 

of our deer, is, in Sussex, now found only in Petworth 
Park. 

When we consider the birds of Sussex, we find that 
this county is more favourably situated to receive wanderers 
from the south, and spring migrants, than any other in 
England, as it is the first landing-place for all that come 
to spend the summer in our country. Hence many rare 
warblers and other birds have been recorded from the 
Downs in the Brighton neighbourhood, and its varied 
coast-line is naturally a favourite winter resort and resting- 
place at all seasons of a large number of species of water- 
birds. Among the smaller migrants are the wheatear, of 
which large numbers are found on the Downs in August 
and September. They are much esteemed as a delicacy, 
and are trapped in large numbers by the shepherds. 
Immense flocks of migratory wood-pigeons also visit 
Sussex. 

Before closing this brief notice of Sussex birds, it is 
worth recording that there is a heronry in Parham Park. 
The number of nests has gone on increasing of late years, 
there being now about sixty. This heronry has a history. 
The ancestral birds were brought by Lord Leicester's 
steward, in the reign of Elizabeth, from Coity Castle in 
Wales, to Penshurst. There they stayed for 200 years, 
and then migrated to Michel Grove, near Arundel. About 
1845, some °f the trees in which they built were felled, 
and then the birds again migrated, and in three seasons 
all had found their way to the Parham woods. 



CLIMATE AND RAINFALL 33 



8. Climate and Rainfall. 

The climate of a district depends, among various 
factors, on the temperature, the prevailing winds, the 
dryness or moisture of the air, and the character of the 
soil ; and the climate of a district may be defined as its 
state with regard to weather throughout the year. In 
considering the climate of Sussex, we must remember 
that it is a maritime county, having the modifying 
influence of the sea along its coast-line of upwards of 
70 miles. It is also one of the largest counties, and 
consequently subject to more varieties of climate than we 
find in Surrey or in Middlesex. Again Sussex is further 
south than either of those counties, and so its latitude, 
to a small extent, leads us to expect that its climate 
will be warmer. Probably, however, its situation as 
a maritime county, and its sheltered position from the 
north and east winds, are the chief factors that give Sussex 
a warmer climate than that of Surrey or Middlesex. 

It is now well understood that the climate of a county 
has considerable influence on its productions, and it is 
consequently of great importance to have accurate in- 
formation as to the prevailing winds, the temperature, 
and the rainfall of a district. These, then, are some of 
the topics we shall now consider. 

Our knowledge of the weather is now much more 
definite than it once was, and every day there appears in 
our newspapers a great deal of information on the subject. 
The Meteorological Society in London collects particulars 

B. S. 3 



34 SUSSEX 

from all parts of the country relating to the temperature 
of the air, the hours of sunshine, the rainfall, and the 
direction of the winds. The Meteorological Office 
divides the British Isles into ten districts for the purpose 
of information with regard to weather conditions for the 
twenty-four hours ending at midnight on the day when 
the news is published. Thus for February 3, 1908, the 
following was the forecast for Sussex, which is placed 
in the South England, London, and Channel District: 
" Light north-westerly breezes, backing westerly or south- 
westerly : fine and frosty at first, milder later, with local 
showers of rain or sleet ; morning fog inland." When 
rough weather is expected, warnings are issued by the 
same office, and details are given on a variety of topics. 
Besides this official information, most of the daily news- 
papers print maps and charts in order to convey the 
weather intelligence in a more graphic manner. 

For the collection of particulars with regard to rainfall 
another agency is at work. There are in the British Isles 
about 4000 observers who collect exact particulars of the 
rainfall in their locality. These results are arranged in 
a yearly record, known as British Rainfall, in which 
are entered the number of inches of rain that fell at 
various stations. In Sussex alone there are over 130 
persons who keep a rain-gauge and enter in a register the 
daily rainfall. Every year these facts are tabulated for 
that station, and then forwarded to the editor of British 
Rainfall. 

We are now in a position to consider some special 
facts bearing on the climate of Sussex, which lies in the 




6E0RGE PHI UP i SON L T0 

{The figures give the approximate annual rainfall in inches) 

3-2 



36 SUSSEX 

sunniest district of the British Islands. Indeed, it has 
been calculated that it has about 1600 hours of bright 
sunshine in the year, out of a possible 4435 hours during 
which the sun is above the horizon. As we should 
expect, the sunniest places are on the coast, and Hastings, 
Eastbourne, and Brighton have each an average of upwards 
of 1800 hours of bright sunshine annually. These figures 
are higher than those of any other town in the south of 
England, with the exceptions of Weymouth, Falmouth, 
and Newquay. It is worth noting that, in 1899, one °^ 
the sunniest years on record, Bognor had no less than 
2194 hours of bright sunshine. It is thus apparent that 
the Sussex coast-towns enjoy remarkably sunny skies ; 
and it is particularly noticeable in the winter that, when 
it is bright and sunny on the sea-coast, the country inland 
is cloudy and misty. 

The prevailing winds of Sussex are from some point 
between west and south-west, and this fact teaches us 
that its climate is warmer than the north and east of 
England, although it is not so warm as the west and 
south-west. The mean annual temperature of Great 
Britain varies from about 46 in the north of Scotland to 
52 in the Scilly Isles, while that of Sussex is about 51 . 
The difference between the mean temperature of the 
warmest month and that of the coldest month in Sussex 
is 23 . Of course the local climates vary considerably, 
but the South Downs form a dividing line between the 
two climatic districts of the county. The coastal district, 
south of the Downs, has a warmer winter and a cooler 
summer than the district to the north of that range. If 



CLIMATE AND RAINFALL 37 

we turn to the map just given we notice that, speaking 
generally, the rainfall decreases steadily as we pass from 
west to east. The moisture-laden clouds driven by the 
prevalent winds across the Atlantic precipitate their 
contents on reaching the land, more especially if the land 
be high, and in consequence the country beyond is less 
wet. Thus in 1906, the highest rainfall was at Glaslyn, 
in the Snowdon district, where 205*3 mcnes °f ram fell > 
and the lowest was at Boyton Rectory, in Suffolk, with a 
record of 19*11 inches. The highest rainfall in Sussex, 
in 1906, was at West Dean Park, where 41*22 inches 
were registered ; and the lowest was at Winchelsea with 
24*01 inches of rain. It may be said generally that 
Sussex is wetter than the counties of the east coast, and 
not so wet as the counties of the west and south-west. 
The total rainfall for England and Wales in 1906 was 
36*44 inches, while for Sussex it was about 32 inches. 
Dr Mill, who has made a special study of rainfall 
statistics, says that " the whole of the low coastal plain 
up to the level of 100 feet has a rainfall under 30 inches.... 
The southern slope of the Downs and the whole of the 
valley north of the Downs have an average rainfall of 
from 30 to 35 inches; but the crest of the Downs and 
the narrow belt immediately at the base of the escarpment 
have a higher rainfall, closely approaching 40 inches." 
The rainfall of the watering-places differs slightly, and 
this is owing to the flatness or the hilliness of the coast. 
Thus while Eastbourne in the neighbourhood of Beachy 
Head had a rainfall in 1906 of 32 inches, Hastings and 
Brighton had each about 28 inches. Taken altogether, 



38 



SUSSEX 



the driest months of 1906 in Sussex were April, July, 
and September, while January, October, and November 
were the months of greatest rain. 




Eastbourne 



9. The Coast— Gains and Losses. 
Its Protection— Sea Walls and 
Groynes. Lighthouses and Light= 
ships. 

Sussex has a long seaboard stretching from Hampshire 
to Kent, and measuring at least 77 miles. A glance at a 
map will show that the sea coast is remarkably regular, 
and without a single harbour of importance. In this 
long extent of coast two points stand out and break the 
monotony. Selsey Bill, marking the termination of Selsey 



THE COAST 39 

Peninsula, is in the west, and Beachy Head, which is the 
extremity of some high land, is towards the east. Between 
these two points it will be seen that the sea coast forms a 
long and shallow curve, while beyond Beachy Head the 
coast trends generally to the north-east. 

As we shall find in a later chapter, the coast of Sussex 
once had several important harbours and ports, and it has 
perhaps been more altered in form, and more filled up in 
the openings, than any other in England. This change 
has been brought about by the constant action of the 
winds and tides upon the materials within their reach, 
and one cannot but observe masses of shingle and sand 
lining the Sussex shore, which have been heaped up by 
these agencies upon strata of a kind different from them- 
selves. Hence we may conclude that these masses of 
shingle and sand, swept along by wind and tide, together 
with the deposits of rivers, are the agents that have closed 
the harbours, choked the ports, and changed the form of 
the coast. 

Now let us look at the map again, and note in order 
some of the features of the coast of our county. Leaving 
Hayling Island in Hampshire behind us we find that 
there is a shingle beach as far as Chichester Harbour. 
On the east of the harbour is a spit of shingle, and behind 
it a large bank known as East Pole Sand. Chichester 
Harbour cannot be entered at all at low water, and at no 
time without a pilot. Passing along to Selsey Bill, the 
cliffs of sand are as low as 12 feet or less, and are subject 
to erosion, wasting as much as from 6 to 8 feet in a year. 
In parts the land is below sea-level and is protected from 



40 SUSSEX 

the encroachments of the sea. The village of Selsey is 
half-a-mile from the sea, and was once the centre of a 
peninsula of which half has been washed away in iooo 
years. Selsey Cathedral is beneath the sea ; and a deer-park 
which belonged to the Bishop of Chichester as late as the 
reign of Henry VIII is now an anchorage ground with 
three fathoms of water, and marked on charts as "The 
Park." 

From Pagham (which once had a good harbour) to 
Bognor the beach is backed by a low earth-bank, and 
groynes are placed all along this coast. Indeed nothing 
is more noticeable on the Sussex beach in all parts than 
the numerous groynes, which are constructed to keep the 
beach level, and so to prevent the erosion of the coast. 
These groynes near Bognor are constructed of piles of fir, 
eight inches square, and spaced four feet apart, carrying 
thick planking to form a stout wooden wall, and running 
into the sea for a distance of from 50 to 100 yards. These 
are typical of groynes in other parts, although at Brighton 
and Hastings there are more elaborate groynes of stone 
and cement. 

Between Bognor and Felpham a concrete sea-wall 
has been constructed for the protection of the low land. 
The coast continues low to Littlehampton, where the 
harbour is formed between two piers, which extend out 
across the beach for half a mile. From this place to 
Worthing there are groynes of various heights and 
sizes, placed at irregular intervals. When Shoreham is 
reached, we find that the drift of shingle has caused the 
Adur to be drawn out of its course. Shoreham Harbour 



THE COAST 



41 



was formerly of considerable importance, but although it 
is still busy in a small way, it has suffered from the 
changes which we have noticed in the early portion of 
this chapter. 

From Shoreham to Hove the coast is low, and the 
beach is covered with shingle for some distance. The 
wasting of the cliffs at Brighton and Hove has been a 




Worthing Sands 



source of trouble and expense for three centuries, and 
now there is a most elaborate system of groyning. Indeed 
someone has remarked that " there are more groynes than 
beach." For the protection of the road and promenade 
in front of Hove and Brighton there is a line of sea-wall 
extending from Aldrington on the west to Black Rock 



42 



SUSSEX 



on the east, a distance of four miles, and forming one of 
the finest promenades in England. The erosion of the 
cliffs has been very considerable, and the old road leading 
to Rottingdean became so dangerous that it was thought 
wise to stop it for passengers and open another further 
inland. 




Brighton from the West Pier 



From Rottingdean to Newhaven the chalk cliffs are 
from 80 to 100 feet in height, and at Newhaven and 
Seaford two chalk cliffs, on the west and east respectively, 
rise to 180 feet and 250 feet. Between these is the 
valley through which the Ouse finds its way to the sea. 
The coast now bends to the south-east, until Beachy Head 
is reached, the finest headland on the south coast. Beachy 



THE COAST 43 

Head is the termination of the South Downs, and is a 
precipice of chalk cliff over 500 feet high. 

Passing Eastbourne, a fashionable and well laid-out 
watering-place, the coast gets lower, and a number of 
Martello Towers are noticed along the shore. These 
were built at the time when it was thought Napoleon 
would invade England, and it was considered that this 
portion of the coast was specially open to attack. Pevensey 
Harbour is now entirely filled with shingle, and the place 
is of no importance. St Leonards and Hastings are 
continuous towns, and both are protected by a sea-wall 
and promenade, three miles long, and by high groynes 
of timber or of concrete. The picturesque coast of 
Hastings gradually changes, and towards Rye it becomes 
low and flat. Both Rye and Winchelsea have " suffered 
a sea-change," and from being formerly important ports 
they are now mainly of historical interest. Rye, it is 
true, has some trade, both coasting and continental ; but 
Winchelsea has fared badly. Old Winchelsea is beneath 
the waves, and New Winchelsea is left stranded inland 
one mile from the sea. 

In bringing our survey of the Sussex coast to a close, 
we may pause to glance at the work that is done by the 
Elder Brethren of Trinity House to assist mariners in 
navigating our coasts by placing lighthouses, lightships, 
beacons, and buoys at various points. It is worth noting that 
a hundred years ago there were only about 30 lighthouses 
and lightships round the British coasts, and now there 
are about 900, of which 24 are in Sussex. The Elder 
Brethren of Trinity House derive an annual income of 



44 SUSSEX 

£300,000 from dues levied on shipping, and this is used 
for the purpose of lighting our coasts. 

The earliest reference to lighthouses in Sussex is in 
1664, when a licence was granted to improve Newhaven 
Harbour, and to set up lights there and at Beachy Head. 
The present lighthouse at Beachy Head is the finest in 
Sussex, and stands at a height of 285 feet. The tower 
itself is 47 feet high and its white light, which is shown 
every 20 seconds, may be seen at a distance of 16 miles 
in clear weather. Besides the lighthouse, fog-explosives 
are used when required, storm signals are shown by the 
Coastguard on Beachy Head, and there is telephonic com- 
munication between the lighthouse and the Coastguard. 

Most of the sea-coast towns have lights on their piers 
and jetties, and there is also one on the beach at Selsey 
Bill. These are all lesser lights and are not comparable 
with that at Beachy Head. There are two lightships off 
the Sussex coast. The Owers light vessel on the west is 
in 16 fathoms of water and has a red hull, with its name 
on both sides. Its white and red light revolves every 
minute and may be seen 1 1 miles away. On the Owers 
there is a powerful fog reed-horn which gives one blast of 
4 seconds every 10 seconds in foggy weather. The 
other lightship is the Royal Sovereign, which is placed off 
Pevensey Bay in 1 1 1 fathoms of water at a distance of 
three-quarters of a mile from Southern Head. It has a 
red hull, with its name on both sides, and carries a small 
ball placed over a large one at the mast head. Its white 
light, which revolves every 45 seconds, may be seen at a 
distance of 1 1 miles in clear weather. 



PEOPLE— RACE, DIALECT, SETTLEMENTS 45 

10. People— Race, Dialect, Settlements, 
Population. 

It is probable that the earliest inhabitants of Sussex 
were immigrants from the Continent when the British 
Isles were still part of Europe. We shall not be far 
wrong in assigning primitive man in Sussex to the period 
known as the Old Stone Age. It is generally agreed 
that Picts and others associated with the dolmens and 
other stone monuments succeeded the first inhabitants ; 
and then came the tribes of Keltic speech, commonly 
called Kelts, who lived in the Bronze Age. There are 
few written records of these people till the invasion of the 
Romans in 55 B.C., when Julius Caesar found the Britons, 
or Kelts, belonging to various races, in different stages 
of civilisation, and using various modes of speech. The 
people of the part of England we now call Sussex were 
the Regni) a branch of the Kelts. The Downs and the 
Weald in the north, and the marshes about Chichester 
and Romney at the west and east, formed the boundaries 
of this tribe. There is every reason to believe that 
the Romans allowed the native chief to rule over his 
dominion, and so Sussex was left almost in its original 
independence. 

The Romans built two strong forts in Sussex — one at 
Regnum, on the site of the present city of Chichester, 
and one at Anderida, where Pevensey now stands. The 
population of Sussex was to some extent augmented by 
the Romans and their legionaries. At the beginning 
of the fifth century, however, the Romans left Britain, 



I 




■■■d^Hi 

Market Cross and Cathedral, Chichester 



PEOPLE— RACE, DIALECT, SETTLEMENTS 47 

and then Sussex fell an easy prey to the Teutons from 
the Continent. The Saxon conquest was so complete that, 
the English Chronicle tells us, there was not one Briton 
left. Be this as it may, we are certain that from that 
time Sussex became settled under one overlordship, and 
the Saxon settlers were very numerous. 

The South Saxons were a people of Teutonic speech, 
and taken as a whole Sussex is one of the most Teutonic 
counties in England. From the fifth century onwards 
the English speech became general, and nearly all the 
places received new names, which have been retained to 
this day. The results of the Saxon Conquest were seen 
in the new language, in new laws, and in a conversion 
to heathendom. 

After the settlement of the Saxons there were arrivals 
of Danes; and then in the tenth and eleventh centuries 
Normans, mainly Norsemen having a Romanised speech, 
came in considerable numbers. Since the Norman con- 
quest, there have been frequent immigrations of foreigners 
from Europe. The Flemings in the time of Edward III, 
the French and Dutch protestants in the reign of Elizabeth 
and in the time of the Stuarts, settled in various parts 
of Sussex and intermingled with the native population. 
French influence was noticeable in Sussex in the Middle 
Ages, and such ports as Winchelsea and Rye had a 
constant influx of French people. The latter portion 
of the nineteenth century witnessed a steady arrival of 
foreigners from various European countries, and when 
the census of 1901 was taken, it was found that upwards 
of 6000 people in the county were of foreign origin. 



48 



SUSSEX 



From the foregoing remarks it will be gathered that 
the people of Sussex are mainly of Teutonic stock, and of 
English speech. There are traces of Keltic, Norse, and 
French in the dialect. For example the Hastings fisher- 
men often say boco for plenty, and frap, to strike. In the 
neighbourhood of Rye, where the Huguenots settled, such 




Strand Gate, Winchelsea 



words as dishabil, meaning untidy, undressed, and peter 
grievous (from petit-grief)^ meaning fretful, are still used. 
But, of course, the body of the Sussex dialect is of Saxon 
origin, and Saxon words meet us at every turn. A cold 
wind is a bleat wind, a pig-stye is a hog-pound^ and 
superior is bettermost. 

We will now turn to some interesting facts relating 



PEOPLE— RACE, DIALECT, SETTLEMENTS 49 

to the people of Sussex as we find them to-day. There 
is no exact information with regard to the population of 
our county till 1801, the year of the Union of Great 
Britain and Ireland. Then the first census was taken, 
and from that date onwards there has been a numbering 
of the people every ten years. 

When the first census of Sussex was taken in 1801, 
the population was 159,471, and in 1901 it was 605,202. 
This means that the increase has been nearly fourfold in 
the century. During the last ten years the increase has 
been upwards of 55,000, or about 10 per cent, on the 
population of the previous decade. It thus appears that 
the high rate of increase from 1871 to 1891 is not being 
maintained. It is worth noting that considerably more 
than half the increase during the century is due to 
the growth of the watering-places, especially Brighton, 
Hastings, and Eastbourne. The density of population to 
a square mile in Sussex is 415, against 558 for the whole 
of England and Wales. 

The census returns of 1901 show that 399,182 people 
live in urban districts, and 203,073 in rural districts ; and 
that the females exceed the males by 55,394. The Ad- 
ministrative County of East Sussex had a population of 
450,702, or three times that of West Sussex. The bulk 
of the people live in houses, or tenements, of which 
94,649 contained five or more rooms, and 38,669 had 
less than five rooms. 

From the census returns we are able to gather par- 
ticulars of the ages and occupations of the people. Thus in 
1901, there were 37,850 people over 65 years of age ; and 

b. s. 4 



50 SUSSEX 

more than 7000 people were living in workhouses, asylums, 
and other public institutions. With regard to the occu- 
pations of the people, the men were chiefly engaged in 
agriculture, in house-building, as coachmen or servants, 
or as commercial men and clerks ; while the women 
were mainly domestic servants, dressmakers, milliners, and 
teachers. 

There is a very interesting table in the Sussex census 
that gives the place of birth of the people. Of the 
605,202 persons, 389,147 were born within the county; 
54,279 were born in London; 11,248 in Scotland, 
Ireland, and Wales; and 5414 in other parts of the 
British Empire. Persons of foreign birth numbered 6330, 
and were mainly natives of Germany, France, Italy, and 
Switzerland. 

11. Agriculture. Main Cultivations, 
Woodlands, Stock. 

Sussex is essentially an agricultural county and, as we 
shall find presently, more than two-thirds of the county 
are under crops and grass. In common with other agri- 
cultural counties, it has had its periods of depression, and 
since 1878 farmers have had uphill work to hold their 
position. In many parts of the county attention is now 
being directed to poultry-rearing and the cultivation of 
fruit on a large scale and according to scientific methods. 
This has been attended with the most satisfactory results, 
and to some extent has balanced the loss that has followed 
owing to the fall in the price of corn. 



AGRICULTURE 51 

Arthur Young, a competent observer on agriculture, 
made a tour of some English counties at the close of the 
eighteenth century, and he has some very forcible remarks 
on the backwardness of cultivation in Sussex. He attri- 
butes this to the bad roads, and the small fields that were 
undrained and surrounded by woods and plantations. 
Since Young's day, however, a great change has taken 
place, for the roads have been improved, the land has 
been drained and limed, and good fences have been 
planted. 

Probably the best time for farmers was from 1855 to 
1877, when wheat, oats, beans, peas, and clover were the 
staple crops, and cattle and sheep were bred in large 
numbers. Wheat was sold at 505. or more per quarter, 
whereas now it sells for 305. or less. 

Let us now consider the position of agriculture in 
Sussex at the present time, and to do this we will turn 
to the Report of the Board of Agriculture, which annually 
gives information as to the acreage and produce of crops, 
and the number of live stock in each county. 

In 1905, there were 666,697 acres, or more than 
two-thirds of Sussex, under crops and grass. The " corn " 
crops were wheat, barley, oats, rye, beans, and peas, which 
were cultivated on 125,567 acres, or more than one- 
seventh of the entire area. Oats and wheat were the 
most important crops, the former accounting for 57,030 
acres, and the latter for 50,440 acres. 

The green crops comprise, among others, turnips and 
swedes, mangolds, cabbages, vetches or tares, and potatoes, 
and grow on 54,610 acres. Turnips, swedes and mangolds 

4—2 



52 SUSSEX 

are the most important and occupy three-fifths of this 
acreage. About one-twentieth of the area of the county 
is devoted to the growth of clover, sainfoin, and grasses 
under rotation; and no less than 416,753 acres are under 
permanent pasture. This is by far the largest acreage, 
being four-ninths of the whole county. 

The growing of hops has steadily declined in Sussex 
from 9989 acres in 1867 to 4647 acres in 1905. This 
decline is owing to a variety of causes, the chief being 
the superior character of Kentish hops, and the con- 
sequently lower price offered for Sussex hops, as well as 
the great increase in the imported article. The oast 
houses for drying the hops remain, but the land once 
devoted to this cultivation is now given over to other crops. 

The cultivation of small fruit is much increasing, and 
at Worthing is a very important industry. In the neigh- 
bourhood of this town it is calculated that the green- 
houses if placed end to end would stretch in a line for 
upwards of 40 miles. Grapes, cucumbers, tomatos, and 
strawberries are the chief crops, and fetch good prices in 
the markets to which they are sent, especially in London, 
Manchester, Liverpool, and Birmingham. 

Much of the Sussex land once under cultivation is 
now laid down as pasture to produce milk for the large 
centres of population, such as Brighton, Hastings, and 
Eastbourne. The remainder of the area that is not under 
cultivation may be classed as bare fallow, mountain, and 
heath land, and forests, woods, coppices, and plantations, 
and these altogether account for at least one-sixth of the 
county. Sussex has from the earliest period been celebrated 



AGRICULTURE 



53 



for its fine growth of timber, especially oak, which was 
long preferred by the naval authorities to that of any 
other district. In Saxon times the forest land of Sussex 
was part of the great Andredsweald which stretched 
from Hampshire into Kent. The most extensive forests 
are now St Leonard's, Ashdown, Waterdown, and Tilgate, 
and the chief trees are oak, ash, beech, Spanish chestnut, 
and birch. 




Oxen at Work on a Sussex Farm 



We will conclude our study of the Agricultural 
Report by considering the different classes of the domestic 
animals that are used for various purposes. The live 
stock of Sussex are classified as horses, cows and other 
cattle, sheep, and pigs, and of these sheep are the most 
numerous, accounting for 400,715 out of the total of 
593,204 animals. Cows and cattle number 127,041, 
horses 24,346, and pigs 41,102. 



54 SUSSEX 

The cattle are chiefly of the Sussex breed, and are 
unequalled for hardiness and beef production. Short- 
horns are bred largely for milk, and Jerseys for butter. 
The milk industry is most important, and there are large 
dairy farms and factories at Glynde and Sheffield Park. 
Pevensey Marsh is very fertile pasture land and is grazed 
by large numbers of cattle and sheep. The pasture land 
near Lewes, Newhaven, Rye, and Winchelsea, and by 
the Arun, also serves a similar purpose. 

Oxen were once used for ploughing and were kept in 
large open yards. Teams of six bullocks used to draw 
the old wheel plough, and teams of eight oxen drew large 
wagons into the towns. Working oxen are now, how- 
ever, practically things of the past, and there are only 
about five or six farmers who use them for ploughing in 
the neighbourhood of the South Downs. 

The Sussex sheep are among the best in the world, 
and the Southdown breed is unequalled for hardiness, 
good wool, and excellence of mutton. Although the 
number of sheep has somewhat decreased of late years, 
the price has improved, so that sheep-farming is very 
profitable. 

Chicken-rearing is another profitable and improving 
agricultural industry, of which Heathfield is the centre. 
The fowls are known as " Surrey " fowls in London, 
where they fetch good prices, and in one week as many 
as 80 tons are sent to the metropolis. Bee-keeping is a 
cottage industry, and in the neighbourhood of the Downs 
an abundance of honey is produced. 



INDUSTRIES AND MANUFACTURES 55 



12. Industries and Manufactures. 

Sussex has no claim to rank either as an industrial or 
as a manufacturing county. It is essentially an agricultural 
county, and most of its industries are those connected, in 
one way or another, with agriculture. Most of our great 
industries are now carried on in the midlands, or the 
northern counties, and this is largely due to the fact that 
iron and coal are there found in great abundance. In 
Norman times, however, there was a very different con- 
dition of affairs, for neither coal nor iron formed an 
important item in English industry or trade, and the 
weaving trade was but little developed. Tin and lead 
were the chief mineral wealth, and raw wool and hides 
the principal articles of trade. 

In this chapter we shall find that, on a smaller scale, 
a great change has also taken place in Sussex. Industries 
that were once important have ceased to be carried on, 
and other industries have succeeded them. The cloth 
industry, which was once widespread through the county, 
is now practically extinct. Broadcloth and kersey were 
made in many of the towns, and Chichester was an early 
seat of this trade. In the sixteenth century, weavers 
were to be found in almost every parish, and fullers and 
dyers are frequently mentioned. Not only was Chichester 
a centre of the cloth industry, but we find that, in the 
early eighteenth century, the spinning of linen employed 
many people there. Cambric goods were made at 
Winchelsea in the Middle Ages, and there is no doubt 



56 



SUSSEX 



that this industry was introduced by the French, who 
settled at Winchelsea and Rye. 

The timber industry has always been of considerable 
importance in Sussex, and this, of course, is owing to the 
extensive forests. Sussex oak has long been in demand, 
and in the Norman period it was used in the construction 
of the Tower and of Westminster Hall. It was also 
used at Portsmouth for the Royal Navy, and is now in 




Shoreham and the River Adur 



demand for plank-fencing and palings, and for the manu- 
facture of wattles for sheep-farms. Before the seventeenth 
century, timber was exported from Shoreham and Rye 
in the form of billets for fuel, but in 1628 this was 
prohibited owing to the need of supplying the numerous 
iron-furnaces in the county. In 190 1, there were 238 
timber-merchants in Sussex, and 503 sawyers. 

Ship-building was carried on at Hastings, Rye, 



INDUSTRIES AND MANUFACTURES 57 

Winchelsea, Shoreham, and Arundel, and at the first 
sea-port some fine schooners were built for the Medi- 
terranean trade. The ship-building trade has steadily 
declined, and in 1901 there were only 181 shipwrights 
and boat-builders at all the sea-ports. Brighton has the 
largest share of this industry, and is followed by South- 
wick, Eastbourne, Shoreham, Littlehampton, Rye, and 
Bosham. 




Bosham 



The manufacture of hoops for casks has long flourished 
in Sussex, and in 1901, no fewer than 284 persons were 
employed as hoop-makers and coopers. It is not generally 
known that the wooden baskets that gardeners carry are 
made in Sussex. Such is the case, however, and " trugs," 
as they are locally called, are associated with Hurst- 
monceux. 



58 SUSSEX 

Among the other industries connected with Sussex 
owing to its abundance of timber may be mentioned 
tanning and charcoal. The tanning industry dates from 
the thirteenth century, and is now carried on at Chichester, 
Horsham, Battle, and Groombridge, on the borders of 
Kent and Sussex. Charcoal-burning: was once of great 
importance, and large quantities of charcoal were exported. 
The demands of the iron-furnaces increased its value, but 
with the decay of the iron industry, its value declined. 
After a while, there was a revival in charcoal-burning, as 
charcoal was needed both in the making of gunpowder 
and also in the drying of hops. As early as the fifteenth 
century gunpowder was made at Rye, and there were 
powder-mills at Brede and Maresfield in the nineteenth 
century. In the year 1800, our Government set up a 
special establishment for the manufacture of charcoal at 
North Chapel, in order to supply the Government powder- 
mills at Waltham in Essex, and at Faversham in Kent. 
The North Chapel factory was closed, however, in 1831. 

Paper-making was once more general in Sussex than 
it is to-day, where the only surviving mills are at Iping. 
The rope-making and sacking industry is now carried on 
at Hailsham, where twine, cordage, fibre mats, and hop- 
sacking are made and sent to all parts. 

There are important cement works at Amberley, 
Newhaven, Upper Beeding, and Lewes, and plaster of 
Paris is made at Mountfield. There are breweries at 
Arundel, Horsham, Chichester, Brighton, and Lewes, 
and chemical works at Rye and Lancing. 

In 1567, Jean Carre settled at Wisborough, and made 



INDUSTRIES AND MANUFACTURES 59 

glass. This was a short-lived industry and came to an 
end in 1617. Bell-founding was once carried on at 
Hastings, Lewes, Slinfold, Lindfield, and Horsham, and 
many of the bells in the Sussex church-towers were made 
at one or another of these towns. 

Among the industries connected with pottery, we may 
mention that roof tiles are made at Mayfield, Hastings, 
and Battle, and glazed pitchers and jugs at Horsham. 
The most important Sussex potteries are, however, at 
Chailey, where " rustic ware " of a peculiar shade of 
brown is made. This ware is remarkable for its orna- 
mental work, which is mainly of green sprays and clusters 
of hops, acorns, leaves, and flowers, carefully modelled 
from nature. The Rye potteries turn out quantities of 
simple fancy articles. 

We must not omit a brief notice of the bygone 
industry of salt-making. As the sea is the great source 
of salt, it is not surprising that this was once carried on 
all along the Sussex coast. The common method of 
obtaining salt was as follows. Sea-water was admitted 
into a number of broad, shallow "pans," or ponds with 
clay bottoms. The water was evaporated by the heat of 
the sun, and thus reduced to a strong brine. It was then 
boiled in shallow iron vessels, and allowed to cool, when 
the salt crystallised. In the Domesday Book of 1086, 
there is mention of 285 salt-pans in Sussex, and in the 
thirteenth century salt was sold to the French and Dutch 
in large quantities. There is now no need for this mode 
of obtaining salt, although there were extensive works in 
Sussex as late as the middle of the nineteenth century. 



60 SUSSEX 

13. Minerals. Exhausted Mining In= 
dustries. 

Sussex cannot now be considered a mining county 
although it was once a great iron-producing district. 
The ironstone of the Weald, both in Kent and Sussex, 
was very extensively worked until the establishment of 
the great iron and coal works in the midland and northern 
counties of England, which caused the industry to be 
abandoned. The ore used was the clay ironstone nodules 
found at the base of the Wadhurst Clay. These were 
dug in bell-pits of no great depth, and worked with 
oak charcoal. The result was a steely wrought iron of 
excellent quality. Further reference to the iron industry 
of Sussex will be made at the end of this chapter. 

The quarries of Sussex are now little worked, but 
there is a most interesting variety of stone known as 
" Sussex marble." It is a calcareous stone, formed by a 
deposit of freshwater shells, and takes a high polish. It is 
frequently used for ornamental purposes, such as chimney- 
pieces, and for building, paving, and burning into lime. 
Much of it was employed in building Canterbury Cathedral, 
where it is called Petworth marble, being found in the 
neighbourhood of that town in the highest perfection. It 
was also used in Chichester Cathedral and the building 
of Petworth House. 

The limestone and the ironstone in contact with the 
" Sussex marble " often rise within a very few feet of the 
surface. Alternate strata of ironstone and sandstone occur 
almost everywhere in the Weald ; and under these, at a 



MINERALS 



61 



considerable depth, are strata of limestone, which, when 
burned, makes the best cement. The sandstone was 
worked by the Romans at Pulborough for use at Bignor ; 
and a quarry of greensand at Eastbourne supplied the 
stone for the Roman station at Pevensey, and for building 
and repairing the castle at that place. The sandstone of 
Sussex was also largely used for building churches, and 




Pulborough Church 



for iron-furnaces. At Horsham and Slinfold there are 
some important quarries, and the stone, which can be 
easily split, is used for roofing purposes. Of late, however, 
it has fallen into disuse on account of its weight, and the 
expense of carriage. 

Chalk is largely used in Sussex for building purposes, 



62 SUSSEX 

and for conversion into lime, which is used either for the 
making of mortar, or as manure. In the eighteenth and 
nineteenth centuries nearly every large farm near the 
Downs had its own kiln, and lime-burning was an 
industry of some importance. Arthur Young at the close 
of the eighteenth century describes a kiln, at Hastings, 
having a capacity of 1200 bushels, and a daily yield of 
300 bushels. In 1 85 1 there were 66 persons engaged in 
quarrying and in lime-burning, but in 1901 this number 
had fallen to 47. This decrease is due to the fact that 
lime is not so freely used on the land as it was at one 
time. The principal lime-works are at Amberley, Glynde, 
Lewes, Pulborough, and Jevington. 

Among the other mineral products of Sussex may be 
mentioned gypsum, which was struck at Mountfield in 
1872. Beds of red ochre are found at GrafFham and 
Chidham, and fuller's earth occurs at Tillington. Flints 
are collected from the chalk-pits and from beneath the 
turf on the Downs, and used for building purposes and 
for road-making. When first dug the flints are too brittle 
for use, and it is quite a common sight to notice large 
heaps of flints spread out to weather. After some exposure 
they become tough and durable. The brick-earth at 
Littlehampton, Rustington, Worthing, and elsewhere is 
very suitable for making bricks. Sussex bricks have a 
good name for their warm red colour, and the best are 
made at Ditchling, Keymer, and Burgess Hill. Here it 
may be mentioned that Hurstmonceux Castle is one of 
the earliest brick edifices in England, and the most 
picturesque ruin in Sussex. 




Hurstmonceux Castle 



64 SUSSEX 

At the beginning of this chapter we referred to a 
period when Sussex formed part of the Black Country of 
south-eastern England ; and it is interesting to note that 
in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries the iron-works 
of the Weald were by far the most considerable in all 
England. 

. The industry flourished in the Weald because of the 
almost inexhaustible supply of timber which could be 
converted into charcoal for fuel in the iron-furnaces. In 
I319, the counties of Surrey and Sussex were ordered to 
provide 3000 horseshoes and 29,000 nails for an expedition 
against the Scots. During the fifteenth and sixteenth 
centuries the iron-works increased in importance, largely 
owing to the use of cannon in war ; and in 1 543 the 
making of cannon had become a notable part of the 
industry in Sussex. In that year the first cannons cast in 
one solid piece were made at Buxted, by Ralph Hogge ; 
and there may yet be seen some old Sussex banded 
cannon in the Tower. 

By the middle of the sixteenth century it was found 
that the iron-works of the Weald were consuming so 
much timber that it was necessary to pass an Act for- 
bidding timber to be cut down for iron smelting within 
14 miles of the coast. This was the first check the iron 
industry had received, and there is no doubt that the 
Government viewed the industry with some suspicion, as 
it was feared that the supplies of oak from Sussex for 
ship-building would be stopped. The great woods in the 
Ashdown district have disappeared, and the South Downs 
are now bare and treeless, so that we can form some idea 



MINERALS 65 

of the enormous quantities of wood that must have been 
consumed. 

/> Notwithstanding many prohibitions, iron smelting 
continued to flourish until the Civil War, when the iron- 
works belonging to the Crown and the Royalists were 
destroyed by Waller after the sieges of Chichester and 
Arundel in 1643. However, the industry lingered on 
for more than a century and a half, and the last furnace 
was at Ashburnham in 1828. 

The chief centres of the industry in Sussex were at 
Lamberhurst, Maresfield, Buxted, Mayfield, Ashburnham, 
and Penhurst. Lamberhurst boasted that it had the 
largest furnaces, and made the biggest guns, and it was 
at this place that the massive iron railings that surrounded 
St Paul's in London till 1 874 were made. These rails were 
2500 in number, and, with seven massive gates, weighed 
200 tons and cost over £11,000. The oldest existing 
iron article made in Sussex is a cast-iron monumental 
slab in Burwash Church, made in the fourteenth century. 
There are many other iron monuments in various Sussex 
churches and churchyards, and andirons and chimney 
backs are to be seen in old mansions and farm-houses. 
Traces of the iron industry may be found in the names 
of ponds and places, such as Furnace Pond, Forge Pond, 
Hammer Pond, Horseshoe Farm, and Cinder Hill. 
Hammer Ponds are numerous both in Surrey and Sussex, 
and were formed by damming up the streams and using 
the water to turn water-wheels, which lifted up and let 
fall heavy hammers. 



b. s. 




Hammerpond Waterfall 



FISHERIES AND FISHING STATIONS 67 



14. Fisheries and Fishing Stations. 

Our English fisheries, especially those on the south 
and east coasts, are of considerable importance, and 
employ many thousands of people. The amount of 
capital in the fishing industry is very large, for vessels and 
boats are costly, and expensive machinery is carried on 
board. The vessels and gear are subjected to very hard 
wear and sometimes both vessels and gear are lost 
altogether. Since the introduction of steam, the capture 
of fish and its consumption have greatly increased. Before 
the age of steam very little of the fish found its way 
beyond the coast towns, where it was sold by the fisher- 
folk from house to house. Now the fish is no sooner 
landed than it is packed, and carried by the railways to 
all parts of our country. 

As we might naturally expect from its extensive coast- 
line and numerous small harbours, Sussex has always been 
an important centre of the fishing industry. Even during 
the period of the Roman occupation the shell-fish of 
Sussex were common articles of food ; and at the Roman 
settlement of Pevensey, or Anderida as it was then called, 
extensive waste-heaps of oyster, cockle, and mussel shells 
have been discovered. 

It is also of interest to note that the conversion of 
Sussex to Christianity was largely owing, according to 
Bede, to the improvement of the fishing industry by 
Wilfrid, "the Apostle of the South Saxons." Bede's 
story is so interesting that it is worth a passing notice. 

5-2 



68 SUSSEX 

It was in 68 1 when Wilfrid landed in Sussex, and found 
the people so truly barbaric that they were ignorant of 
fishing except for eels, although the sea and rivers abounded 
with fish. Wilfrid, however, bade his attendants collect 
nets used in eel-fishing, and cast them into the sea. 
Presently they hauled in three hundred fish of different 
sorts, which they divided into three parts, — for the poor, 
for the lenders of the nets, and for themselves. Bede then 
tells us that by this "good service, the prelate turned 
their hearts powerfully to love him, and they were the 
readier to listen hopefully to his preaching about heavenly 
benefits, after they had through his agency received 
temporal good." It is also worth recording that Wilfrid 
became the bishop of the South Saxons and established 
his seat at Selsey. 

In the thirteenth century, Winchelsea was well known 
as a fishing port and supplied the King's table with fish, 
while in the next century it is recorded that Winchelsea 
plaice and Rye whiting were held in high esteem. The 
Winchelsea fishermen not only pursued the industry on 
the south coast, but they also manned 14 ships to take 
part in the Yarmouth herring fishery. Early in the 
seventeenth century, the intrusion of French ships into 
the Sussex fishing grounds gave much trouble, and in 
1622 a number of French vessels were captured off Rye. 
In the eighteenth century, the Sussex fisheries were fairly 
flourishing, and we find that considerable smuggling was 
combined with the fishing trade. It was at this period 
that the Brighton mackerel fishery brought in large sums 
of money. 



FISHERIES AND FISHING STATIONS 69 

In our own time, with changed conditions, it was 
recognised that the sea fisheries of England wanted 
regulating, and in 1888 an Act was passed which con- 
stituted a Sea Fishery District for Sussex, extending from 
a line drawn south-east of Dungeness Light to a line off 
Hayling Island. By this Act a Board of nineteen members 
were appointed to supervise this fishery district. 




The Dieppe Boat leaving Newhaven 



e, Hastings, 



The fishing ports of Sussex are now Ry 
Eastbourne, Newhaven, Brighton, Shoreham, Worthing, 
Bognor, and Selsey. Winchelsea has no boats, but 
conducts its fishery with kettle- or stake-nets. These 
consist of fences formed of hurdles, nets, or stakes, which 
are completely covered at high tide, so that fish can swim 



70 



SUSSEX 



over and round the fence ; but with the fall of the tide, 
the fish are cut off and captured. This method is of 
great antiquity. 

The other methods are various and are adapted to the 
different kinds of fish. Thus at Rye and Hastings, 
trawling and drift-nets are used for catching soles, plaice, 
herring and mackerel, while lines are used for cod, turbot, 




Beachy Head 



whiting, etc. 



The Eastbourne fishermen have drift-nets 
and long lines for mackerel, plaice, and skates, and employ 
pots for crabs, lobsters, and whelks. Selsey fishermen use 
drift-nets for herrings, lines for skate and cod, pots for 
whelks, lobster, crabs, and prawns, hand-fishing for 
periwinkles, and dredging for oysters. 

The fishing industry of Sussex is. worth about ^60,000 



FISHERIES AND FISHING STATIONS 71 

a year. This income is derived chiefly from the capture 
of shell-fish, especially in West Sussex, where the lobsters, 
prawns, and cockles of Selsey have long been famous. 
Oysters are dredged off Selsey, and are cultivated at 
Bosham and Emsworth. Until 1870, there were oyster- 
beds at Eastbourne and Pevensey, but owing to various 
causes they no longer exist. Arundel mullet are of well- 
earned celebrity, and the best grey mullet in England are 
caught in the Arun. 

Freshwater fish were once of far greater importance, 
and in the Domesday Book there are references to fisheries 
in Sussex. In 1798, Arthur Young wrote that carp were 
the chief stock, but that tench and perch, eels and pike 
were raised. Nowadays sea-trout, grilse, and sometimes 
salmon are caught in the lower Ouse, but the catching of 
freshwater fish is no longer an industry, but a sport. 



15. Shipping and Trade— The Chief 
Ports. Extinct Ports. Cinque Ports. 

Although Sussex has a long coast-line, it has very 
few sea-ports and none of first-class importance. As we 
have seen, few if any parts of the English coast have 
suffered so many changes, for several Sussex ports that 
once had good harbours and carried on an extensive trade 
have either been closed by the eastward drift of shingle, 
or have been forsaken by the sea. 

There are now only three towns that have any pre- 
tension to be called sea-ports. Newhaven, at the mouth 



n Sussex 

of the Ouse, is the most important, and is the only 
harbour of any note between Portsmouth and the Downs. 
It has a line of mail-steamers that run to Dieppe, and there 
is considerable trade with North France, especially with 
Honfleur and Caen, and also with the Channel Islands. 
Newhaven has also a coasting-trade in corn, coal, and 
timber. Rye, on the Rother, has a very limited trade, 
which strongly contrasts with its flourishing condition in 
the Middle Ages. It now exports wool, corn, timber, 
oak-bark, and hops, and imports coal and manufactured 
goods. Shoreham, at the mouth of the Adur, is now 
almost extinct as a sea-port, for most of its trade has 
been transferred to Newhaven. In the bright days of its 
prosperity great cargoes of corn and wine were landed 
here, and in the time of Edward III it provided 26 ships 
for the invasion of France. 

The extinct ports of Sussex are quite numerous, and 
this county shares with Kent the barren honour of having 
the largest number of decayed sea-ports in England. We 
have already alluded to the reason for this decay, so that 
we may now devote some attention to the past history 
of these places. Perhaps we shall do well to consider 
them with the Cinque Ports, which were situated in 
Kent and Sussex. As the word implies, the Cinque 
Ports were originally five in number, but afterwards two 
others were added to the confederation. The original 
ports were Hastings, Sandwich, Dover, Romney, and 
Hythe, and the two "Ancient Towns," as they were 
called, were Rye and Winchelsea. Of these Seven Head 
Ports, it will be seen that Hastings (the premier Cinque 



SHIPPING AND TRADE 73 

Port), Rye, and Winchelsea were in Sussex. Besides the 
Seven Head Ports, there were 32 other ports, termed 
' limbs,' attached to them, and of these, the following 
were in Sussex: — Seaford, Pevensey, Bulverhythe, Hydney, 
and Ham. So completely has the sea done its work, that 
in some cases the very site of the ports is now not known 
with certainty. 




Ypres Tower, Rye 

The Cinque Ports were originally a corporation to 
control the fisheries, and to provide for the defence of the 
south-eastern coasts. They thus were a sort of local 
Royal Navy, and as late as the reign of Henry VII they 
provided many ships, while in Elizabeth's reign they came 
to the front and helped to defeat the Armada. It is said 



74 SUSSEX 

that, at that great crisis, every man in the ports sprang to 
his post and watched the coast. 

In return for providing ships and men to serve the 
King for a certain period in each year, the Cinque Ports 
had many privileges. They were allowed a certain form 
of self-government, their freemen were permitted to trade 
free of toll in all English boroughs, and the men were 
exempt from military duty. In addition to these privi- 
leges the "Barons" were honoured with the highest place 
at Coronations, and the Warden had command of the 
navy that guarded the southern shores of England. In 
the fifteenth century the Cinque Ports began to decline, 
and as King Henry VII formed a new Royal Navy, their 
assistance was no longer needed. 

Hastings, the Premier Port, as we know it to-day is 
the third town of that name and was built about the 
middle of the seventeenth century. The site of the first 
town is under the sea, and there is now not even a trace 
of an inlet on the coast-line. Rye has not fared so badly 
as some of the other Cinque Ports. In the fifteenth 
century it combined with Yarmouth in the fishing trade 
in the North Sea, and its fleet engaged in the wine, 
timber, and billet trade. Its former importance is shown 
by a reference to its charter, which concludes with the 
words, u God save Englonde and the Towne of Rye"; 
and when Queen Elizabeth visited it in 1573 she 
named it "Rye Royal." Winchelsea has suffered more 
than either of the other Sussex Head Ports. The old 
town lies beneath the sea, and the new Winchelsea, 
built by Edward I, has been left a mile inland. When 



SHIPPING AND TRADE 



75 



Elizabeth visited it in 1573 she named it "Little London," 
perhaps in jest, for in 1601 we are told that Winchelsea 
had "gone to decay." 




Hastings Castle : the Chancel Arch of the Chapel 

Seaford was a " member " of Hastings and showed 
signs of decline in the reign of Edward III. The course 



76 SUSSEX 

of the Ouse, blocked by shingle from the west, was 
diverted, and in the sixteenth century a harbour, " New 
Haven," was formed at its new mouth. Pevensey, once 
a convenient port, and even the rival of Hastings, is now 
only a hamlet, with the ruins of its castle to tell of its 
former greatness. Bulverhythe was near Hastings, Hydney 
close to Eastbourne, and Petit Ham in the vicinity of 
Winchelsea. These and other sea-ports have long since 
disappeared, and are only remembered in history or by 
local traditions. Thus when the sea makes a kind of 
rattling sound on the shingle, the fishermen say they "hear 
Bulverhythe bells," and expect rough weather. 



16. History of Sussex. 

When Britain was invaded by the Romans, Sussex 
formed part of the territory of the Regni, a British tribe. 
The Emperor Claudius commissioned Flavius Vespasian 
to subdue this part of the island, and about the year 47 a.d. 
the Roman dominion was established in the maritime 
portions of Sussex. This territory was included in the 
division called Britannia Prima, and the two seats of 
Roman rule were at Regnum, probably our Chichester, 
and at Anderida, afterwards Pevensey. It appears that 
the Roman rule in Sussex was mild, and that the native 
chief was allowed to retain his power over his dominions. 
During the fourth century the Saxon pirates made many 
attacks upon our southern and eastern shores, and in order 
to protect these parts the Romans placed strong garrisons 



HISTORY OF SUSSEX 11 

at seven fortified places between the Wash and Beachy 
Head. All these seven towns were placed under an im- 
portant Roman commandant, or Count of the Saxon 
Shore [Comes Littoris Saxonici) as he was called. Ande- 
rida, seven or eight miles from Beachy Head, was the 
fortified sea-port in Sussex, and the remains of its Roman 
wall yet testify to its former importance. 

There is no particular mention of Sussex until after 
the departure of the Romans. In 477 a.d. four Saxon 
chieftains landed in Sussex, and the English Chronicle is 
the only authority for our information. It says, "Aelle 
with three sons and three keels come to the place called 
Cymenes once. He slays many Britons and drives others 
to take refuge in the wood that is called Andredsweald." 
For seven years after their coming, the Saxons kept to 
the western half of the county, probably in the neigh- 
bourhood of their new capital, Chichester, which had been 
renamed after one of Aelle's sons, Cissa. In the eighth 
year, they again fought with the Britons, and in 491 a.d. 
advanced as far as Anderida. Let us turn again to the 
English Chronicle^ which tells the story in the following 
sentence: u Aelle and Cissa attacked Andredesceaster and 
slew all who dwell therein nor was there for that reason 
one Briton left alive." From that time, it is probable, 
the whole of Sussex became united under a single ruler, 
whose chief seat was at Chichester. 

The first king of Sussex was this Aelle (Olla, or 
Ella), a Bretwalda, and in 514 Cissa succeeded his father. 
During the next hundred years, Wessex was taking rank 
as the chief English kingdom, and in 607 Ceolwulf of 



78 SUSSEX 

Wessex conquered and absorbed Sussex into his dominions. 
Although the South Saxons were subject to Wessex, they 
retained their own kings for many years. In 823 Egbert, 
King of Wessex, gained the submission of the kingdoms 
of Kent, Surrey, Sussex, and Essex, and when he died in 
836 he left Sussex as the portion for his son Athelstan. 
Later we find that King Alfred, who had large possessions 
in Sussex, was living at West Dean, near Seaford, and 
here he met Asser, who became the biographer of the 
great king. In Alfred's reign the Danes attacked Sussex, 
landing near Chichester. Many of them were killed, and 
their ships were captured. In 893 they landed in the 
eastern part of the county, and proceeding up the river 
Rother seized the town of Appledore, in Kent. The 
famous Danish pirate, Hasting, also landed near the site 
of the present town of Hastings, where he raised some 
fortifications. 

The tenth century is almost a blank as far as Sussex 
history is concerned ; but in 994 Olaf of Norway and 
Sweyn of Denmark, having failed in an attempt to capture 
London, turned into Sussex and " wrought the most ill 
that ever any army could do in burning and harrying, and 
in man-slaying." Peace and rest were given to Sussex by 
the Danish King Cnut ; and after awhile Godwine had 
one-third of Sussex and lived at Bosham. It was from 
this little port that Harold sailed on his excursion to 
Normandy, when he fell into William's power. 

The year 1064 is supposed to be the date of the visit 
of Harold to the court of William the Norman. The 
English Earl was forced to make an oath of fealty to the 




o 



80 SUSSEX 

Norman prince, and it was the breach of this oath on 
the death of Edward the Confessor that brought about the 
invasion of England by William. Harold was crowned 
King of England in the early months of 1066, and at 
once the Norman preparations began, and lasted on 
through the summer and almost up to the middle of 
autumn. Harold also collected his fleet and army, and 
in the words of the old Chronicler, " it was such a force 
both by land and sea as no king of the land had ever 
gathered before." Harold went to the Isle of Wight and 
there lay at anchor all the summer, but as his provisions 
were exhausted, and possibly thinking all danger of in- 
vasion was over, he allowed his men to go home. 

In taking this step Harold made a great mistake, for 
he was soon threatened by an unexpected invasion in the 
north by Haardrada, King of Norway. It is not necessary 
to go into the details of the fights at Fulford and Stamford 
Bridge, but in passing it may be noted that no sooner had 
Harold defeated his northern foes on September 25, 1066, 
than he heard that William of Normandy had landed at 
Pevensey. It is related that the Norman ships numbered 
696, and that their landing on the morning of September 28, 
was unopposed. The tidings of William's landing was 
swiftly carried northwards, and reached Harold at York 
on October 1. The English king at once set out for 
London and by October 12 had collected his army 
and marched southward. He took up a position on 
the last spur of a low range of Sussex hills about seven 
miles to the north-west of Hastings. It was on the 
morning of Saturday, October 14, that Harold's army 



HISTORY OF SUSSEX 81 

was drawn up in line on the ridge now crowned by the 
abbey and town of Battle, and William's army faced 
them on the hill which now bears the name of Telham. 
The battlefield is sometimes called Senlac, but it will 
probably always be best known by the name of Hastings. 

Harold's position on a hill 260 feet above sea-level, 
and surrounded by narrow valleys, was very difficult of 
approach by cavalry. It was made yet more secure against 
such an attack by a fence or palisade, as well as by a fosse 
drawn right across the field. William's troops probably 
numbered about 15,000, and Harold's were rather fewer. 
The Norman troops were better trained and seasoned than 
the English, but Harold had undoubtedly the advantage, 
for his army stood on the defensive in a position which 
had been chosen with considerable skill. 

The two armies stood fronting; each other in battle 
array at 9 o'clock on the morning of October 14. The 
men of Kent claimed the right to be in the van of the 
English army, and strike the first blow in the battle, and 
the Londoners made a claim to guard the king, being 
grouped round his standard which was placed in the 
middle of the ridge. William put his archers in the 
first line of his army, his mail-clad infantry in the second 
line, and behind them all he placed his cavalry. The 
Normans were in the centre, the Bretons on the left, and 
the Frenchmen on the right. 

For six hours the battle raged with nearly equal 

fortune on both sides, but afterwards victory inclined to 

the Normans, chiefly owing to William's strategy in 

feigning flight and drawing the English from their strong 

b. s. 6 



82 



SUSSEX 



position on the hill. William also bade his archers to 
shoot high up into the air, and one of this terrible flight 
of arrows struck Harold in the right eye. He fell to 
the ground mortally wounded and was soon slain by four 
Norman knights. Although the battle was continued 
for some time, all was in favour of the Normans, and ere 




Battle Abbey : Site of the High Altar erected on 
the spot where Harold fell 



the evening came, William's banner was planted on the 
brow of the hill where Harold's had lately floated. 

William, in fulfilment of a vow made on the eve of 
the fight, founded on the field of battle a stately abbey 
which was named Battle. The building of the abbey 
must have done much to alter the face of the battlefield ; 



HISTORY OF SUSSEX 83 

and now for nearly four centuries the abbey has been 
hidden and changed by the manor-house built in Tudor 
style after the suppression of the monasteries. It is, how- 
ever, still possible to point to the site of the high altar 
of the Abbey Church on the crest of the hill as the spot 
where King Harold fell. 

The Battle of Hastings was one of the decisive battles 
of the world, and was a turning point in our national 
history. The story of England as ruled by Anglo-Saxon 
kings ends, and a new chapter opens when the great 
Norman Duke becomes also the King of England. 

After the Battle of Hastings, the history of Sussex 
presents no striking features. William II besieged Peven- 
sey Castle in 1087 and after a severe siege of six weeks 
compelled the garrison, at whose head was Odo, Bishop 
of Bayeux, to surrender. In the troublous reign of Stephen 
the two castles of Arundel and Pevensey were held for 
Matilda against the king. The worst of our kings, John, 
was often in Sussex, either going to, or returning from 
France, but the only Sussex event of note in his reign was 
the rebellion of William de Braose of Bramber Castle. 

The decisive battle of Lewes, fought on May 15, 1264, 
was between the forces of Henry III and those of his barons 
under Simon de Montfort. Both the king and his son, 
Prince Edward, were made prisoners, and for a time Simon 
de Montfort had considerable power. In the peasants' 
rising of 1 381, Sussex played a prominent part, and Jack 
Cade, leader of a rebellion in 1450, was killed by Iden, 
Sheriff of Kent, in a garden near Heathfield. 

Sussex took a worthy part in preparing for the descent 

6—2 



84 SUSSEX 

of the Armada, and raised 4000 foot soldiers, besides 260 
horse soldiers for the defence of the coast. When the 
Armada had passed the Sussex coast on July 28, 1588, the 
county forces were dismissed to their homes. 

The Civil War did not affect Sussex to any great ex- 
tent. East Sussex seems to have sided with the Parlia- 
mentary forces, while the Royalists were strong in West 
Sussex. In 1642, Waller besieged and took Chichester, 
and later both Arundel and Bramber Castles were taken. 
Soon after this Prince Charles was defeated at Worcester, 
and at the end of his wanderings reached Brighton on 
October 14, 1651. Next day he escaped by sea from 
Shoreham and set sail for Fecamp. 

On June 30, 1690, the combined fleets of the English 
and Dutch were defeated off Beachy Head by the French ; 
and at the beginning of the nineteenth century the coast 
was fortified owing to an alarm of invasion by Napoleon. 
During 1803-4 Martello towers were built, and the 
military canal from Rye across Romney marsh was dug. 
Fortunately these precautions were unnecessary, and to- 
day the towers or their ruins only remind us of the fear 
of the Napoleonic invasion more than one hundred years 
ago. 

17. Antiquities — Prehistoric. Roman. 
Saxon. 

The earliest written records of Sussex and its people 
do not carry us back more than 2000 years ago, so that 
prior to that period, and even for some time later, we are 



ANTIQUITIES 85 

dependent for our knowledge of the dwellers in Sussex on 
the traces they themselves have left of their handiwork. 

Antiquaries have divided the earliest period of our 
country's history into the Stone Age, the Bronze Age, and 
the Iron Age. The Stone Age has been subdivided into 
two periods, the first being named the Palaeolithic, or Old 
Stone Age, and the other the Neolithic, or New Stone 
Age. The Stone Age is distinguished as the period when 
early man shaped flint implements by flaking, chipping, 
crushing, and grinding. We cannot here state the process 
by which flint in its natural state was chipped and broken 
into such implements as hatchets, knives, hammer stones, 
and other forms that were needed by primitive man in 
Britain, but the greatest deftness and ingenuity were 
displayed in making these stone implements or weapons. 

It is generally easy to distinguish the earlier, or palaeo- 
lithic, implements from those of late date by the bold style 
of workmanship. The various implements of this class 
were probably the very earliest of man's attempts at tool- 
making, and the character of the work shows that the 
workers were men of some skill and intelligence. Imple- 
ments of the early Stone Age have been found in many 
parts of Sussex, especially at Friston near Eastbourne, East 
Dean, Brighton, and Midhurst. 

The Neolithic, or Late Stone Age, is well represented 
in Sussex, both with regard to stone implements and 
earthworks. The work of this Age is of a more advanced 
type, and there is evidence of remarkable power of produc- 
ing straight, uniform, and nearly parallel fractures in the 
flint. The workers of the Neolithic Age selected flint of 




Palaeolithic Implement 
{From Kents' Cavern) 




Neolithic Celt of Greenstone 

{From Bridlington, Torks.) 



ANTIQUITIES 87 

a superior quality, and developed the art of delivering blows 
on the flint with a fine precision. In this later Stone 
Age the following implements and weapons were made : — 
picks, chisels, flakes, scrapers, borers, arrow-heads, hammer 
stones, and grinding stones ; and of these scrapers, simple 
flakes, and cores have been most found in Sussex, especi- 
ally on the south slope of the Downs. Celts and hatchets, 
highly finished, have been unearthed at Cissbury Hill, and 
various flint implements at Eastbourne and Pevensey. 

Numerous earthworks and hill-top camps on the 
highest points of the South Downs are believed to belong 
to the Neolithic Age. Perhaps the best example is Cissbury 
Ring, 603 feet high, having on its summit an oval en- 
trenchment, the largest and finest on the South Downs. 
Here was a flint manufactory, and the highly finished 
implements discovered in the neighbourhood show that 
the people had considerable skill. 

The Bronze Age marks a period when the people of 
our land began to learn how to fashion metal, make pot- 
tery, and form defensive earthworks. It must not be 
supposed that only bronze was used in this period, for we 
are sure that gold was known, and even worked. Perhaps 
for our purpose we shall do well to group together the 
Bronze Age and the Iron Age, and call them the Age of 
Metals. The antiquities of this period have been found 
as separate objects, as hoards, and as sepulchral deposits. 
When bronze was introduced into this country is not 
certainly known, but there is reason to believe that the 
Kelts made the earliest specimens of bronze implements 
and weapons. 



88 SUSSEX 

There are many barrows of the Bronze Age in Sussex, 
and those near Eastbourne, at Lewes, Brighton, and 
Chichester have yielded many remains of this period. At 
Hollingsbury Hill, near Brighton, a remarkable series of 
antiquities has been unearthed, and remains of pottery 
have been found at Alfriston, Hove, and Lewes. In the 
interior of a barrow near Hove there was found a rude 
oaken coffin containing, among other objects, a bronze 
dagger and an amber cup. In 1 863, there was a noteworthy 
discovery of gold ornaments at Mountfield, near Battle. 
A ploughman turned up a long piece of metal and a great 
number of rings, weighing 1 1 lbs. avoirdupois. He sold 
these for old metal and received 5^. 6d. It was afterwards 
discovered that they were gold ornaments of the Bronze 
Age, and they realised in London no less than ^529. 

There is a curious figure known as the Long Man 
of Wilmington that probably belongs to this early age. It 
is an outlined figure 230 feet long cut in the turf of the 
South Downs, which may be seen from the railway near 
Polegate. This gigantic figure, which is cut on the slope 
of the hill, holds an immense staff in each hand. There 
are other similar figures, but mostly in the shape of 
horses, to be seen in various parts of England. Most of 
them are of this age. 

Hoards of British coins of gold, silver, copper, and 
lead have been found at Battle, Bognor, Lancing Downs, 
Selsey, and Ashdown Forest. Artificial caves in the chalk 
may be seen at Hayes Down and Lavant, and in them 
have been found neolithic implements, and pottery of the 
Roman period. St Clement's Caves at Hastings are 



ANTIQUITIES 



89 



extensive and of uncertain origin, but may belong to 
this period. Ancient boats of the British period have 
been found at Bexhill, Burpham, and North Stoke. 

The Roman relics in. Sussex are interesting and im- 
portant, though not so numerous as those in the neighbour- 
ing county of Kent. Chichester, the ancient Regnum, 
the capital of the Regni, has many traces of Roman 




The Long Man, Wilmington 



occupation, the most important of. which, the " Neptune 
and Minerva Slab," is preserved in the Town Hall. The 
Roman walls of Anderida still remain at Pevensey, and 
there are no less than nine towers at intervals in the wall. 
The chief Roman treasure of Sussex is the villa at Bignor 
with its large and remarkable pavements. The buildings, 




East Lavant Church 



ANTIQUITIES 91 

discovered in 1811, cover a space of 650 feet by 350 feet, 
of which the villa itself with its court occupies one half. 
The Roman road, Stane Street, runs close to the villa, 
and owing to this fact it is probable that some wealthy 
Roman official chose this site for his house. 

As might be expected, the Saxon remains in Sussex are 
very numerous. At Mill Field, near Eastbourne, many 
graves a few feet below the surface were opened, and 
knives, spears, shield bosses, glass cups, wooden buckets, 
armlets, and swords of the Saxon period were discovered. 
In a Saxon cemetery near Lewes some skeletons with 
weapons of iron (swords and spearheads) were found ; and 
graves of women were unearthed in which were beads of 
glass, amber, and amethyst, brooches, armlets, buckles, and 
coins. Saxon coins have been discovered at Alfriston ; and 
at Chanctonbury, in 1866, thousands of coins were found, 
which had been struck at Chichester, Hastings, Lewes, 
and Steyning. 



18. Architecture, (a) Ecclesiastical — 
Churches, Cathedral, Abbeys. 

Sussex has not so many fine churches as the neighbour- 
ing county of Kent, or as Norfolk and Suffolk, but it is 
far richer in these and other ecclesiastical buildings than 
is generally supposed. The churches are of all periods 
from Pre-Norman times, and of the most diverse character, 
but the o;reater number of them deserve careful attention. 

Before considering them, however, we must first recall 




Mailing Hill, Lewes 



ARCHITECTURE— ECCLESIASTICAL 93 

the fact that Christianity was established in Britain, and 
of course in Sussex, during the Roman occupation. Here 
and there, we still find traces of Roman influence in some 
of our oldest churches. After the Romans left our country, 
the Saxon conquest brought a revival of heathenism, and 
so pronounced was the falling away from Christianity in 
Sussex that it was not till 68 1 that Wilfrid was the means 
of converting the South Saxons to the true faith. In that 
year he was received by King Ethelwold, who, with his 
officers and chief men, was baptised. The king gave 
Wilfrid 87 hides of land in Selsey, on which were 250 slaves, 
all of whom were at once set free. Wilfrid became the 
first bishop, and fixed the see at Selsey, where it remained 
till 1075, when it was removed to Chichester, of which 
diocese Stigand was the first bishop. 

For more than 1000 years we can trace the progress 
of ecclesiastical architecture in Sussex, and there are at 
the present time at least 313 old parish churches which 
date from Pre-Reformation days. Besides these buildings, 
and Chichester Cathedral, there are remains of some of 
the religious houses, so that the subject of ecclesiastical 
architecture in Sussex is extensive. 

The character of the buildings depends largely on 
the materials accessible. Speaking generally, the stone 
found in Sussex is not of the best quality for durability 
or for good masonry. The stone used in some of the 
churches, especially those near the sea-coast, was im- 
ported from Caen, in France, and it is a curious fact that 
this building stone was sent in exchange for cargoes of 
Sussex wheat. Some of the churches along the sea-coast, 




The Porch, Bishopstone Church 



ARCHITECTURE— ECCLESIASTICAL 95 

and in the western and central districts, are largely built 
of flints obtained from the sea-shore or from the chalk. 
In East Sussex sandstone was used in many churches, and 
in the north-west part of the county chalk-rag is common 
in some buildings. The chalk from the Downs was used 
for rubble and interior work ; and the hard chalk-rag 
for the walls. Clunch was freely used, for it was easily 
worked, and hardened to exposure. 

The sandstone of Pulborough was of brown, yellow, 
greyish-green, and orange tones, and was used in the 
churches at Pulborough, Arundel and Lyminster. Horsham 
stone was employed for roofing, and Sussex, or Petworth, 
marble may be seen worked into the interior of Chichester 
Cathedral. On the borders of Surrey much timber is 
evident in the churches, and timber bell-towers and spires 
are common. Throughout Sussex tiles for roofing are 
quite a feature, and also oak shingles for the timber spires 
and turrets. 

Many of the Sussex churches are of the simplest design, 
and are built of the humblest materials. Some are on 
a very small scale, as the churches at Binsted, Burton, 
and Selham, while a few are really great, as those at 
Boxgrove, New Shoreham, and Winchelsea, not to mention 
the cathedral at Chichester. 

There are various types of Sussex churches. First, 
we may notice those with only nave and chancel, and 
perhaps an aisle of later date ; secondly, there are those 
with nave, chancel, and bell-turret ; and thirdly there are 
the most numerous, those having nave, chancel, one or 
more aisles, and a western tower. A few instances occur 



II 



w 




m. in 





New Shoreham Church 



ARCHITECTURE— ECCLESIASTICAL 97 

of a cruciform building with a central tower, and there 
are three churches having round towers, those at Lewes, 
Piddinghoe, and Southease. Besides the cathedral, the 
churches at Chiddingly, Northiam, Dallington, and East 
Preston have stone spires, and those at Heathfield, Winchel- 
sea, and St Clement's, Hastings, have crypts. There is 
little good stained glass in the churches ; the fonts are 




Worth Church 



plain ; and what is rather strange, considering that Sussex 
was once an iron-producing county, there is hardly any 
wrought-iron work. 

From an antiquarian point of view the most interesting 
churches in Sussex are those at Worth, Sompting, and 
Bosham, which all date from the Saxon period. Worth 
has the most complete ground-plan of a Saxon church 

b. s. 7 



98 SUSSEX 

which remains, and although it has been modernised, the 
chancel and arches are without doubt Saxon. Norman 
work may be seen in the churches at Old Shoreham, 
New Shoreham, Steyning, and Newhaven, and in the 
Cathedral. It is related that there were 150 churches in 
Sussex before the death of William I, but of course 
many of them have been rebuilt, still the number of 
small early Norman churches is peculiar to Sussex. 

Towards the end of the twelfth century the round 
arches and heavy columns of Norman work began 
gradually to give place to the pointed arch and lighter 
style of the first period of Gothic architecture which we 
know as Early English, conspicuous for its long narrow 
windows, and leading in its turn by a transitional period 
into the highest development of Gothic — the Decorated 
period. This, in England, prevailed throughout the 
greater part of the fourteenth century, and was particularly 
characterised by its window tracery. The Perpendicular, 
which, as its name implies, is remarkable for the perpen- 
dicular arrangement of the tracery, and also for the 
flattened arches and the square arrangement of the 
mouldings over them, was the last of the Gothic styles. 
It developed gradually from the Decorated towards the 
end of the fourteenth century and was in use till about 
the middle of the sixteenth century. 

The churches at Climping, Pevensey, and Horsted 
Keynes are representative of the Early English period ; 
Winchelsea is a beautiful example of a Decorated church ; 
and the Perpendicular is well shown in the two fine 
churches of St Clement and All Saints at Hastings. 



ARCHITECTURE— ECCLESIASTICAL 99 

Chichester Cathedral, in its present form, shows 
building mostly of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. 
It was originally begun in 1091, and partly finished in 
1 108. It was burnt down in 11 14, and another fire in 
1 186 hindered the progress of restoration. The work of 
rebuilding and remodelling went on from 11 87 to 1244, 
and the Lady Chapel dates from 1304. The spire, 
originally erected in the fourteenth century, collapsed in 
1 86 1, and was rebuilt in 1866. The detached Bell 
Tower is a feature which now is peculiar to Chichester 
among all English Cathedrals. 

The Reformation marks a distinct break in ecclesiastical 
architecture in Sussex. Before that change 70 religious 
houses, such as abbeys, priories, nunneries, and hospitals 
were dotted about the county. Many of these were fine 
specimens of the skill of the architect, but of only a few 
are there any remains to recall their former beauty. Battle 
Abbey was founded by William as a votive offering for his 
great victory at Hastings, and dedicated to St Martin. 
The Priory of Lewes was founded by William de Warenne 
and had possessions over almost all the kingdom. Both 
the heads of Battle Abbey and Lewes Priory were con- 
stantly summoned to Parliament, and their influence must 
have been very great. The remains of Battle Abbey are 
very interesting; those of Lewes Priory are but scanty. 
Of Bayham Abbey the cloisters and chapter-house remain, 
and there are also ruins of the religious houses at Box- 
grove, Winchelsea, and Robertsbridge. 



7—2 



100 



SUSSEX 



19. Architecture. (6) Military — Castles. 

Few counties have such a numerous and interesting 
series of castles and defensive works as Sussex, and they 
are of every period and plan from the Roman castle of 
Pevensey to Camber Castle of the sixteenth century. Of 
course, the Norman period was the time when the largest 




Camber Castle 



number were built, and it is said that no less than noo 
were erected in various parts of the country during that 
time. However, we shall not be far wrong in stating 
that probably ten or twelve of the seventeen Sussex castles 
are of the Norman period. The Normans divided the 
county into the six "rapes" of Hastings, Pevensey, Lewes, 



ARCHITECTURE— MILITARY 101 

Bramber, Arundel, and Chichester, each having its own 
castle. This was a unique division of which we shall 
presently have to speak, and we find that each rape was 
given to one of William's chief followers. 

The Norman castles were not all of the same size 
and importance, for while some were royal castles and 
meant for the defence of the country, others were built 
by the barons for the protection of their own territory 
and became the terror of the countryside. Before dealing 
with the Sussex castles in particular, it may be well to 
consider some general features connected with these 
buildings. 

A castle of the best construction consisted of a lofty 
and very thick wall, with towers and bastions, enclosing 
several acres, and protected by a moat or ditch. Within 
this area were three principal divisions. First, there was 
the outer bailey, or courtyard, the approach to which was 
guarded by a towered gateway, with a drawbridge and 
portcullis. In this bailey were the stables, and a mount 
of command and of execution. Secondly, there was the 
inner bailey, or quadrangle, also defended by gateway 
and towers, within which stood the keep, the chapel, and 
the barracks. Thirdly, there was the donjon or keep, 
which was the real citadel, and always provided with a well. 

Of all the Sussex castles, Pevensey stands first from 
its great historical interest. The present castle is mediaeval, 
and lies in the south-east corner of an enclosure, sur- 
rounded by a wall of Roman origin, which once bounded 
the famous town or fortress of Anderida. When the 
Saxons invaded Sussex, Anderida was blockaded and taken 



102 



SUSSEX 



by them, and for more than five centuries we hear little 
of the town. However, in 1066, it came into prominence 
as the landing place of the Norman conqueror, and after 
his victory at Hastings, he gave Pevensey to his half- 
brother, Robert, who first built the castle within the 
Roman walls. The castle is divided from the rest of the 
enclosure by a moat, and the main gateway, flanked by 




Pevensey Castle 



two towers, was reached by a drawbridge. It is somewhat 
difficult to distinguish the ruined fragments of this famous 
keep, but the site of the chapel may be traced on the 
turf, where also can be seen the plain old font, and the 
opening of the well. 

Hastings Castle, partly of Norman origin, is finely 
placed on the cliff. It is unapproachable on three sides, 
and on the fourth a deep moat was dug for its defence. 



ARCHITECTURE— MILITARY 103 

It was probably built by William the Conqueror, and by 
him granted to Robert, Earl of Eu. The walls, now 
ruined, ran round three sides of the enclosure, and there 
are remains of some of the towers, arches, and windows. 

Lewes Castle was given by William to William de 
Warenne. The ruins consist of two gateways and the 
keep, the latter of Edwardian origin. There was formerly 
a second keep, and the mound on which it stood is visible 
some distance away. 

Bramber Castle was built by the Normans to defend 
the gap in the Downs made by the River Adur. There 
formerly stood here an old Saxon castle, and on its site, 
which was given by the Conqueror to William de Braose, 
a Norman castle was raised. The castle was besieged and 
taken by the Parliamentary army, which utterly destroyed 
it, so that only a fragment is left of this famous building. 

Arundel Castle, together with the surrounding district, 
was given by King William to Roger de Montgomeri. 
It withstood three sieges, but at the last in 1644 Waller 
reduced it and laid most of it in ruins, so that of the old 
castle little remains but the Norman keep, which is very 
fine and commands an extensive view. 

Like Arundel, Chichester was given to Roger de 
Montgomeri, who built a castle here which has entirely 
disappeared. The castle was in the north-east quarter of 
the city, and the city walls were not strong enough to 
enable it to hold out for more than ten days when Waller 
besieged it in 1643. 

Hurstmonceux Castle is of brick, and one of the earliest 
buildings erected of this material since Roman times. It 



104 



SUSSEX 



lies low, and is rather a fortified mansion than a castle. 
In plan it is almost a square with octagonal angle towers, 
and four others, one in the centre of each side. The 
main gateway is the most beautiful part of the castle. The 
two flanking towers are capped by smaller watch-towers, 
and joined by an archway. The ruins are extensive and 
picturesque, and comprise the great hall, two dungeons, 
the small chapel, the postern gate, the kitchen and offices. 




Bodiam Castle 



Bodiam Castle is a beautiful and interesting ruin. It 
was built in a low situation in the valley of the Rother, 
and has a well-filled moat. The surrounding walls of 
the enclosure are very solid, and the castle is rectangular 
in plan. There is a round tower at each angle, and in 
the middle of each side a square tower. The chapel, the 



ARCHITECTURE— DOMESTIC 105 

great hall, the buttery, and the kitchen are the chief 
remaining portions. 

The Ypres Tower at Rye, which stands on the cliff, 
was built in Stephen's reign by William of Ypres, and was 
for some time the only defence of the town. It is square 
in plan, with round towers at the angles, and was long 
used as a prison. 

Camber Castle lies on the low coast between Rye 
and Winchelsea. It is the most modern of the Sussex 
castles, and was built by Henry VIII in 1 53 1 for the 
defence of the coast. It is not of much interest, and 
its round central keep, exterior wall, and towers at regular 
intervals, only remind us of the fact that by the time of 
the Tudors the days of castles had passed away. 



20. Architecture. (c) Domestic — 
Famous Seats, Manor Houses, 
Cottages. 

After the Wars of the Roses there was no longer 
necessity for castles and fortified houses, and in Tudor 
times the houses of the great nobles were built less like 
fortresses and more as comfortable homes for the owner, 
his family, and his servants. Besides these larger mansions 
there were also many good manor-houses, where the lord 
of the manor lived in the heart of his own domain. 
Sussex has no great houses of such architectural splendour, 
or with such historical associations, as Hatfield House in 
Hertfordshire, or Penshurst Place in Kent, but it has some 



106 SUSSEX 

really good houses of a less pretentious character, dating 
from the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries and even earlier. 

The architecture of a county is always influenced by 
the building materials that are found within its borders, 
and the remarks on this subject in Chapter 18 apply also 
to the domestic buildings. Owing to the ease with which 
timber could be obtained from the Sussex forests, we 
naturally expect to find that wood is one of the chief 
materials used in the construction of Sussex houses and 
cottages. For some of the larger houses stone is used, 
both from Sussex quarries and from Caen in France. For 
the smaller houses and cottages, oak timber and clay 
plaster, or " wattle and daub," were common. In some 
districts flints, chalk, and sandstone were freely used for 
the walls, and Horsham slabs for the roofs. Here and 
there may be seen farm-houses and cottages with coverings 
of reed-thatch ; while in most parts tiled roofs are quite a 
feature of the architecture. It should be noted that to 
the end of the sixteenth century little window glass was 
used ; and that bricks, so much used by the Romans, were 
not reintroduced till about the fifteenth century. 

Let us now consider a few of the famous old houses 
of Sussex. We cannot do better than begin with Crow- 
hurst manor-house, near Hastings, dating from the thir- 
teenth century. It was built in the form of a parallelogram 
with a small porch, and contained only three rooms, besides 
a hall. Although scanty, the ruins are picturesque, and 
the east window of the large room has good mouldings. 

There are very early manor-houses at Mailing near 
Lewes, at Preston, Portslade, Ferring, and Goring, and 



ARCHITECTURE— DOMESTIC 



107 



some remains of a thirteenth-century court-house at 
Winchelsea. But the ruins of Mayfield Palace, once the 
country house of the archbishops of Canterbury, from 
Dunstan to Cranmer, are the most important of their 
class in England. After lying in ruins for a very long 
time, the place was bought by the Roman Catholics and 




The Great Hall, Mayfield 



turned into a convent. The Great Hall with its remark- 
able roof and fine windows is the chief feature, but this is 
now used as a chapel. 

When the Tudor period is reached the remains of the 
fine domestic buildings are numerous. Brede Place, built 
of brick, stone, and half timber, is very picturesque, and 
retains the chapel and many of its original fittings. Cow- 



108 



SUSSEX 



dray House, near Midhurst, is a grand example of a Tudor 
mansion. The ivy-clad remains of this house, half castle 
and half manor-house, give one an excellent idea of the 
kind of building that was common at this period — the 
early sixteenth century. The entrance gateway is square 
with turrets at the angles ; the hall has some elaborate 
ornaments; and one of the chief features, the six-transomed 
oriel window, is particularly fine. 




Brede Place 



Many good Sussex mansions date from the sixteenth 
and seventeenth centuries, but we can only mention those 
at Cuckfield, Parham, Wiston, and Glynde. The farm- 
houses and buildings of West Sussex are worth a passing 
notice. They are generally picturesque, having roofs 
either of thatch or tiles ; the barns are weather-boarded. 



ARCHITECTURE— DOMESTIC 



109 



There are few English counties that can boast of such 
pretty cottages as Sussex, and charming examples of them 
may be seen in many of the rural districts, particularly in 
the neighbourhood of Henfield. They are often built of 
dark red bricks, with tiles of various sizes and shapes as a 
facing to the gables, as well as a covering to the roofs. 
Some of the cottages are built partly of wood, but in 




Cowdray House, Midhurst 



nearly all cases they are well adapted to their situation. 
The chimneys are one of the characteristics of these 
Sussex cottages, and while not so ornamented as those in 
Kent, they are larger and more massive. 

The Sussex cottages of this picturesque type are passing 
away, and are being replaced by flimsy buildings, devoid 
of taste and individuality. The old cottages grew in 



110 



SUSSEX 



beauty with age, but the modern structures of yellow bricks 
and blue slate roofs will always be an eyesore, and certainly 
no one will ever admire their rectangular windows or 




Old Houses, Petworth 



their miserable chimney-pots. An artist delights in sketch- 
ing the fine old half-timbered houses and cottages at Rye, 



ARCHITECTURE 111 

Winchelsea, Horsham, and Petworth, but who would ever 
think of putting on canvas the buildings that are springing 
up in some of the modern towns ! The old and charming 
Sussex cottages were suited to the wants of the occupiers, 
and yet seemed to be inspired by the genius of the place. 



21. Communications — Past and Present 
— Roads, Railways, Canals. 

It has been well said that of all the marks made by 
the Romans in this island, the most distinct and inefface- 
able was that left by them as road-makers. Often 
indeed their works survive only as boundaries between 
parishes or counties, but sometimes we can see the track 
still going straight to its mark over hill and dale, and we 
say instinctively, " That must be a Roman road." There 
is no doubt that the Romans, in some cases, made use 
of the British trackways, which were improved and 
increased ; but throughout our country the Romans 
were the great road-makers, and, strange to say, their 
chief highways are known to us for the most part by the 
names given to them by our Anglo-Saxon forefathers. 

If we look at the map of Sussex we see that the chief 
roads run from south to north, and the reason for this is 
obvious. The main roads of Sussex converge on London, 
the chief seat of the kingdom. The Romans carried 
their roads from openings on the sea-coast, such as the 
mouth of the Arun, the mouth of the Ouse, or from 
Pevensey, through gaps in the South Downs and the 
North Downs onwards to the metropolis. 



112 



SUSSEX 



It will not be possible to deal fully with the Roman 
roads, but we may just touch upon the one called Stane 
Street, or Stone Street, connecting London with Chiches- 
ter. This latter town, which was built by the Romans 
and named Regnum, was laid out in a geometrical way, 
and its four main streets run in north, south, east and 
west directions. The east street was Stone Street, and 




Chichester Cathedral 



was probably the old British trackway which the Romans 
paved with stone. From Chichester, Stone Street runs 
direct to London. 

There is every reason to believe that the main roads 
of Sussex continued to be fairly good through the Middle 
Ages, but by the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries they 
were entirely worn out. Many of the newer roads were 



COMMUNICATIONS 1 13 

mere country lanes, impassable except by pack-horses. 
In fact, the pack-horse was at this time almost the 
only means of transport as far as trade was concerned. 
Even as late as the beginning of the nineteenth century, 
Sussex was considered one of the worst counties in which 
to travel, and many stories are told of royal and other 
passengers who got upset, or stuck in the mud. 

Especially bad were the roads in the Weald, and 
reference has already been made to the fact that Prince 
George of Denmark when visiting Petworth, in 1703, 
took six hours to travel nine miles. Defoe in his Tour, 
published in 1724, tells us that he saw a lady drawn to 
church by a team of oxen, as the road was impassable for 
horses. At a later period of the eighteenth century, 
Horace Walpole came to difficulties in travelling to 
Robertsbridge. He says, "The roads grew bad beyond 
all badness, the night dark beyond all darkness, our guide 
frightened beyond all frightfulness. However, without 
being at all killed, we got up, or down — I forget which, 
it was so dark — a famous precipice called Silver Hill, and 
about ten at night arrived at a wretched village called 
Rotherbridge. We had still six miles hither, but deter- 
mined to stop, as it would be a pity to break our necks 
before we had seen all we had intended." 

Horace Walpole further relates that, in those parts of 
Sussex he visited, it was the custom for young gentlemen 
to drive their curricles with a pair of oxen. Now, how- 
ever, oxen are rarely seen on the Sussex roads, but on the 
hill-sides a few of the farmers still plough with them. 
The black oxen of the hills are of Welsh stock, and the 

b. s. 8 



114 SUSSEX 

" kews," as their shoes are called, may still be seen on 
the walls of a smithy here and there. Shoeing oxen is a 
difficult task, since to protect the smith from their horns, 
they have to be thrown down, their necks held in a fork, 
and their feet tied together. 

Arthur Young, who travelled through Sussex at the 
end of the eighteenth century, reports that " the turnpike 
roads in Sussex are generally well enough made. The 
cross roads upon the coast are mostly kept in good order ; 
but in the Weald the cross roads are in all probability the 
very worst that could be met with in any part of the 
island." In the early years of the nineteenth century a 
great change took place in the condition of the Sussex 
roads. " Clinkers," as the Sussex ironstones were called, 
were used to mend the more important roads with good 
results. New roads were also made, and now it is only 
possible to complain of the country lanes. 

The road from London to Chichester enters the 
county from Haslemere in Surrey ; the road from London 
to Rye and Winchelsea runs for upwards of twenty miles 
along the borders of Sussex and Kent ; and the road to 
Hastings branches from it at Flimwell, and thence pro- 
ceeds through Robertsbridge and Battle to the sea. But 
of all the Sussex roads, the most nearly perfect, and 
certainly the most fashionable of all, is the Brighton 
Road. This is not one road only, but three roads, and 
in point of fact, according to some authorities, there are 
five roads. In the coaching days, which were at their 
height during the Regency and the reign of George IV, 
there was no town in England that could be reached by 




Lewes Castle: the Entrance Gate 



1—2 



116 SUSSEX 

so many different routes as Brighton. Of these the 
favourite was the New Road, which went by Croydon, 
Merstham, Redhill, Balcombe, and Cuckfield, and made 
the distance about 51^ miles. The longest and oldest 
route was through Croydon, Uckfield, and Lewes, a 
distance of 58^ miles. It is related that no fewer than 
eighteen coaches left London for Brighton each day in 
1 82 1, and that the distance was covered by the fastest in 
five hours and a quarter. 

We will now leave the roads, and turn our attention 
to the canals and railways of the county. Of canals there 
are several, but at present they are somewhat neglected. 
The most important is in connection with the Arun, 
which is joined to Portsmouth and Chichester by the 
Arundel and Portsmouth Canal. The West Rosher 
Canal joins Petworth and Midhurst with the Arun ; and 
the Arun and Wey Canal, which was completed nearly 
one hundred years ago to connect these two rivers, is now 
practically closed. 

With regard to railway communication, Sussex is 
almost entirely served by the London, Brighton, and 
South Coast Railway. The line to Brighton was opened 
in 1 84 1, and within the next few years branches were 
made to Chichester on the west, and to Hastings and 
Eastbourne on the east. The South-Eastern and Chatham 
Railway has a line from Tunbridge Wells to Hastings 
and to Rye, and the London and South- Western Railway 
a branch from Petersfield to Midhurst. 



ADMINISTRATION AND DIVISIONS 117 

22. Administration and Divisions — 
Ancient and Modern. 

In an earlier part of this book we found that Sussex may 
be accepted as the best typical instance of an old English 
kingdom becoming a county, and as the modern representa- 
tive of an old independent Teutonic commonwealth. We 
are now in a position to consider how its present local 
independence, or, in other words, its present administration 
of county affairs, is to a large extent the result of its past 
history. Let us therefore, before dealing with the present 
forms of administration, glance at the ancient forms of 
government. It must always be clearly understood that, 
though many changes have been introduced into our 
parochial and county government, it has ever been the 
care of most of our rulers to graft, as it were, new ideas 
on to the old English institutions. Thus it comes about 
that what we often consider modern methods of govern- 
ment may be traced back to Saxon days, more than a 
thousand years ago. 

In early English times the government of a county or 
shire was partly central, from the county town, and partly 
local, from the hundred or parish. The chief court of 
Sussex was, in the earliest times, the Shire-moot, which 
met twice a year. Its chief officers were the Ealdorman 
and the Sheriff, the last of whom was appointed by the 
King. Each county was divided, in Saxon times, into 
Hundreds, or Lathes, or Wapentakes. Sussex was divided 
into hundreds, and it is probable that, at first, each of 



118 SUSSEX 

these divisions contained one hundred free families. Each 
hundred had its own court, the Hundred-moot, which 
met every month for business. 

Although probably dating not from Saxon, but from 
Norman times, there is another division of the county 
which is quite peculiar to Sussex. The various hundreds 
were grouped into six divisions, or Rapes, and each portion 
extends from the northern border of the county to the 
sea. It is also worth noting that besides possessing a sea- 
frontage, each Rape has within it one castle, or other 
important station for defence and protection. It must, 
however, be clearly understood that the Rape was only a 
geographical division, and had no administrative or judicial 
position. 

Now let us return to the other, and earlier Saxon 
divisions. Each hundred was divided into townships, or 
parishes, as they are now called. Each township had its 
own gemot, or assembly, where every freeman could 
appear. This gemot, or town-moot, made laws for the 
township, and appointed officers to enforce these by-laws, 
or laws of the town. The officers of the town-moot 
were the reeve and the tithing-man, the last of whom 
corresponds to our policeman. The reeve presided over 
the township court, which was held whenever necessary. 

Besides these courts of the shire, the hundred, and the 
township, there were also courts of the manor, as the 
separate holdings of land were called. The manors were 
of different sizes, sometimes they were as large as the 
township, and sometimes they were parts of the township. 
The manors were held by their owners, or lords of the 



ADMINISTRATION AND DIVISIONS 119 

manor, as they were called, on various conditions. For 
example, they had to render service or homage to the 
King, and were allowed to sub-let their manors. The 
manor-courts were of various names, such as court-leet, 
court-baron, and customary court. In these courts, the 
lord and his tenants met, and settled the affairs belonging 
to the manor, such as those relating to the common fields, 
the rights of enclosure, and the holding of fairs and 
markets. These manor-courts are still held in many 
parts, but they have long since lost the importance they 
once had, and we only refer to them here to show how 
interesting it is to remember that they are survivals dating 
back for more than one thousand years. 

Having briefly considered the ancient forms of ad- 
ministration in the county, we are now enabled to form a 
better idea of the present mode of administering local 
affairs. The chief county officers at present are the Lord 
Lieutenant, who owes his appointment to the Crown, and 
is generally a nobleman or a large landowner, and the 
High Sheriff, who is chosen every year " on the morrow 
of St Martin's Day," November 12. 

Sussex is divided into two portions, known as East 
Sussex and West Sussex, each of which has its own 
County Council, a mode of government which was intro- 
duced in 1888, and which corresponds to the ancient 
Shire-moot. The County Council of East Sussex has 
17 Aldermen and 52 Councillors, and the County Council 
of West Sussex has 16 Aldermen and 49 Councillors. 
The County Councillors are elected every three years to 
their position, while the Aldermen are co-opted by the 



120 



SUSSEX 



Councillors for a term of years. Lewes is the centre of 
county business for East Sussex, and for West Sussex, 
meetings are held at Chichester and Horsham. 

For local government in towns and parishes, an Act 
was passed in 1894, when new names were given to the 
governing bodies formerly known as vestries, local boards, 



highway boards, etc. In th< 



parishes, the chief 




Battle Abbey: the Cloister Front 



governing bodies are now called District Councils, and of 
these there are 15 in Sussex, while the smaller parishes 
have Parish Councils, or Parish Meetings. But whether 
District Councils or Parish Councils, they represent the 
old town-moots, and the members, chosen by the people, 
are elected to manage the affairs of the district, and 
generally to advance its interests. 



ADMINISTRATION AND DIVISIONS 121 

There are some towns in Sussex that have different 
and larger powers of government than the parishes. 
These are called Boroughs and are as follows : — Brighton, 
Hastings, Rye, Chichester, Eastbourne, Hove, Arundel, 
Worthing, and Lewes. Of these nine Boroughs, the first 
two are called County Boroughs, having the powers of a 
County Council. 

Sussex has also 21 Poor Law Unions, each having a 
Board of Guardians, whose duty it is to manage the 
workhouses, and appoint various officers to carry on the 
work of caring for the poor and the aged. 

For the administration of justice, East Sussex and 
West Sussex have their own police force. The Quarter 
Sessions are held at Lewes, Chichester, Petworth, and 
Horsham, and there are 18 Petty Sessional Divisions, 
each having its own magistrates, or justices of the peace. 

In the earliest period of our history, the Church 
existed as a body before the State, and its mode of govern- 
ment is much the same to-day as it was in those far-off* 
days. In Saxon times, our country was divided into 
dioceses, or sees, over which were placed bishops. The 
northern dioceses and bishops were under the rule of the 
Archbishop of York, and the southern dioceses and bishops 
under the Archbishop of Canterbury. Sussex was in the 
diocese of Selsey, but after a time the see was removed 
to Chichester, where it has since remained. Practically 
the whole of Sussex is in the diocese of Chichester, but 
there are a few parishes in the dioceses of Canterbury, 
Winchester, and Rochester. At one time the eccle- 
siastical parish coincided with the civil parish, but now 



122 



SUSSEX 



while there are 338 civil parishes, there are 377 eccle- 
siastical parishes in Sussex. 

Matters relating to education are managed by Education 
Committees in Brighton, Hastings, Bexhill, Eastbourne, 
Hove, Lewes, Chichester, and Worthing ; but for all the 
other parishes, the County Councils of East Sussex and 




Christ's Hospital, Horsham 



of West Sussex have appointed Education Committees to 
control Secondary and Elementary Education. 

For parliamentary representation, the county is divided 
into the following six divisions : — Horsham, Chichester, 
East Grinstead, Lewes, Eastbourne, and Rye, each elect- 
ing one member. The borough of Brighton elects two 
members, and Hastings one member. It is interesting to 



ADMINISTRATION AND DIVISIONS 123 

note that the Reform Act of 1832 disfranchised the 
following towns : — Bramber, East Grinstead, Steyning, 
Winchelsea, Arundel, Horsham, Midhurst, and Rye. 



23. The Roll of Honour of the County. 

In bringing our survey of Sussex to a close it will be 
of interest in this chapter to associate the names of the 
famous men of the county with the places where they 
were born, or resided, or with which they were in some 
way connected. Certainly we shall be all the more 
attached to our county if we know a little of the men 
who have shed lustre upon it and have helped to make it 
famous. The love of our own parish is quickened if we 
realise that some man of note has lived in it, and this 
spirit of local pride is the beginning of patriotism for our 
native land, and for the Empire as a whole. 

Among the many persons of royal birth who have 
been associated with Sussex, we can mention but a few. 
King Alfred the Great lived at Dean, where he enter- 
tained Asser, who afterwards became his biographer. 
King Alfred had much property in the county, and in his 
Will many Sussex names of places occur. Harold, the 
last of the Saxon Kings, had extensive possessions in the 
county, and when he left England on his excursion to 
Normandy, he sailed from the Sussex port of Bosham, a 
place which was then of much importance. The name 
of William the Conqueror will always be associated with 
the defeat of Harold at Hastings, and also with the division 



124 



SUSSEX 



of the county among some of his Norman barons. There 
is not space to tell of the other English monarchs who 
have left memories in Sussex, but mention must be made 
of George IV, who as Prince of Wales so often visited 
Brighton, built the Pavilion, and established the popularity 
of the town as a seaside resort. 

When we consider the divines we find that Sussex 
has a long list of them associated with various places. 




Parsonage Hall, West Tarring 



Archbishops, Bishops, and Deans besides others of lesser 
note are connected with one town or another. Dunstan, 
in the tenth century, lived at Mayfield, where are still 
ruins of the palace of the archbishops. Archbishop Becket 
in the twelfth century had a house at West Tarring, and 
Archbishop Juxon, who attended King Charles I on the 



scaffold, was born at Chichester. 



Chillingworth, a famous 



THE ROLL OF HONOUR 125 

religious writer, was taken prisoner at the siege of Arundel, 
but was allowed to go to the bishop's palace at Chichester, 
where he died in 1643, anc ^ was buried in the cathedral 
of that city. Cardinal Manning was at one time Arch- 
deacon of Chichester ; and Bishop Wilberforce lived for 
a long time at West Lavington. There he was buried, 
and the church has been restored in memory of him. 
Dr Hook, author of The Lives of the Archbishops of Canter- 
bury^ was Dean of Chichester ; and Bishop Hannington, 
who was murdered in Africa in 1885, was both a native 
of and a curate at Hurstpierpoint. Augustus and Julius 
Hare, the joint authors of Guesses at Truth^ were con- 
nected with Hurstmonceux, and Julius was Archdeacon 
of Lewes. 

The names of Wilberforce and Cobden occur among 
the Sussex worthies as statesmen. The first, William 
Wilberforce, was M.P. for Bramber, and he will ever be 
remembered as the liberator of the slaves ; the second, 
Richard Cobden, was born at Midhurst, and educated at 
the grammar school of that little town. His work .in 
connection with Free Trade is well known, and at the 
close of his career he was buried in the churchyard of 
West Lavington in 1865. 

The only man of action of great note who lived in 
the county was General Eliott. He was famous as the 
defender of Gibraltar, at the great siege from 1 779-1 782. 
For his success he was created Lord Heathfield, a title 
derived from the fact that his residence was at Heathfield 
Park, in Sussex. 

When we turn to historians, we find that Gibbon, 



126 SUSSEX 

the author of The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, 
spent much of his time at Sheffield Park, and was buried 
at Fletching in 1794. Mark Antony Lower, the author 
of the Worthies of Sussex and the History of Sussex, was a 
native of the county and a schoolmaster at Lewes. 




Edward Gibbon 



There are many men of letters who are associated 
with Sussex. First must come the celebrated Selden, 
who was the "great dictator of learning of the English 
nation " during the Civil War. He was born at Salving- 



THE ROLL OF HONOUR 



127 



ton, educated at Chichester, and sat in several Parliaments. 
He was one of those appointed to draw up the Petition of 
Rights, and gained much fame as a politician and jurist. 
Horace Walpole visited Hurstmonceux, and as man of 
letters, novelist, and critic takes high rank. His Letters 




Field Place, Warnham 
{Shelley 's Birthplace) 



help us to understand the social life of the age in which 
he lived. Thackeray, the novelist, knew Brighton and 
Winchelsea well, and the latter place figures in his story of 
Denis Duval, while the former he called " Dr Brighton," 
on account of its health-giving powers. Thackeray's 
words are " One of the best physicians our city has ever 



128 SUSSEX 

known is kind, cheerful, merry Doctor Brighton." William 
Black, another Victorian novelist, lived at Brighton, and 
That Beautiful Wretch and Kilmeny owe much to his know- 
ledge of this town. Black was buried at Rottingdean. 

Of poets connected with Sussex we have many from 
Pope onwards. It is said that Pope wrote The Rape of 
the Lock at West Grinstead. Collins, a poet now little 
read, was born at Chichester in 1721, and died near the 
Cathedral cloisters in 1759. Byron lived at Hastings and 
Littlehampton ; and Shelley was born at Field Place, 
Warnham, in 1792. There are also memories of Cowper 
at Eartham, and of Campbell and Coventry Patmore at 
Hastings. 

Among artists, we may mention Sir Edward Burne- 
Jones, one of the most famous of the Pre-Raphaelites, 
who lies buried at Rottingdean, in which church is some 
stained glass designed by him. 

We will bring this list of Sussex worthies to a close by 
mentioning that Sir Charles Lyell, the eminent geologist, 
was educated at Midhurst Grammar School, and that 
Herbert Spencer, who ranks high as a philosopher, lived 
at Brighton. 



24. THE CHIEF TOWNS AND VILLAGES 
OF SUSSEX. 

(The figures in brackets after each name give the population 
in 1 90 1, and those at the end of each section are references 
to the pages in the text.) 

Aldrington (6840) is a coast parish three miles west of 
Brighton. It has a canal and small floating basin. 

Alfriston (534) is a large and picturesque village at the 
entrance of the gap by which the Cuckmere makes its way 
through the Downs. It has a fine church, which has been called 
the " Cathedral of the Downs," some ancient houses, and a 
market-cross. 

Ardingley (1346) on high ground overlooking the Ouse, is 
five miles south-west of Horsted Keynes. Its church is of con- 
siderable interest, and Wakehurst Place is a good example of an 
Elizabethan mansion. 

Arundel (2739) * s a municipal borough, five miles above the 
mouth of the Arun. Its fine baronial castle is picturesquely 
situated, and has long been associated with the Howard family. 
Of the old castle little remains except the keep, but the present 
Duke of Norfolk has built a new castle, and this is the chief 
feature in the town. The parish church is interesting, and there 
are some old houses of considerable merit, (pp. 17, 19, 31, 32, 
57, 58, 65, 83, 84, 95, 101, 103, 121, 123.) 

B. S. 9 



130 SUSSEX 

Ashburnham (570), about four miles west of Battle, is 
noteworthy as the last place in Sussex where iron-works were 
carried on. Ashburnham Place is a fine mansion surrounded by a 
large, well-timbered park. (p. 65.) 

Battle (2996) is a market-town seven miles north-west of 
Hastings. The Battle of Hastings was fought here in 1066, and 
there are the remains of the Abbey founded by William the 
Conqueror. Of the ruins, the most interesting portion is the 
gateway, (pp. 58, 59, 8 1, 88, 99.) 

Bexhill-on-Sea (12,213), fi ye miles west of Hastings, is a 
rising sea-side resort, (pp. 8 8, 122.) 

Bignor (104), six miles north of Arundel, has the interesting- 
remains of a Roman villa, which was discovered in 181 1. The 
principal remains are three fine tessellated pavements, (p. 60.) 

Billingshurst ( 1 59 1) is a very old parish, seven miles south- 
west of Horsham. 

Bodiam (252) on the River Rother, three miles east of 
Robertsbridge, has some beautiful ruins of a castle, (p. 104.) 

Bognor (6180) is a watering-place midway between Selsey 
Bill and the mouth of the Arun. The sands are firm and exten- 
sive, but the country inland is not interesting, (pp. 6, 40, 69, 8 8.) 

Bosham (1149) is a small fishing village about four miles 
from Chichester. Many traces of Roman occupation have been 
found. Earl Godwine lived here, and it was from Bosham that 
Harold sailed on his journey to Normandy. The parish church is 
of great antiquity, having both Saxon and Norman work. (pp. 57, 
7i, 97-) 

Brighton (123,478) is a parliamentary and county borough, 
and a large and fashionable watering-place. It was formerly 
known as Brighthelmstone, and for some centuries before 1780 
was only a fishing village. It was patronised by George, 



CHIEF TOWNS AND VILLAGES 131 

Prince of Wales, afterwards George IV, and has ever since been 
the great pleasure resort of Londoners in Sussex. Its principal 
attraction is the magnificent sea-front extending for upwards of 
four miles. Its Pavilion, built by George IV, is a curious pile of 
domes and minarets, and now belongs to the town, being used as 
a place of entertainment. The Aquarium is perhaps the best in 
England, and there are numerous other buildings of interest. 
There are two fine promenade piers; and the herring and mackerel 
fisheries are of importance. The Devil's Dyke is in the neigh- 
bourhood, and the view over the Weald from its summit is 
extensive and beautiful. "London-by-the-Sea" has been visited 
by countless celebrities, and Thackeray described it as Dr 
Brighton," on account of its health-giving properties, (pp. i, 6, 
i3, *5> !6, 19, 26, 28, 36, 37, 41, 52, 58, 68, 69, 85, 88, 121, 
122,1 24, 127, 128.) 

Broadwater (1187), a little north of Worthing, has a 
beautiful church, with a massive tower. Parts of the building 
are of great antiquity, and of the richest style of architecture. 

Burwash (1977), eight miles north-west of Battle, is on 
high ground in the valley of the Rother. The church is of 
interest, and is certainly of Norman, and probably of Saxon date. 
(p. 65.) 

Buxted (2038) was formerly one of the great iron-towns of 
the Weald, of which it was the centre. The first English cannon 
was cast here in 1543. (pp. 64, 65.) 

Chichester (12,244), a borough and city near the head of 
Chichester Harbour, is of great antiquity. In the days of the 
Romans it was called Regnum, and was the headquarters of Ves- 
pasian. Its Roman origin is traced in the four nearly straight 
streets, answering to the points of the compass, and meeting at 
the handsome market-cross, which was completed about 1500. 
The city takes its name from Cissa, a Saxon chief, who conquered 

9—2 



132 SUSSEX 

it in 477. The ancient walls still mark the site of the old city. 
The Cathedral, with five aisles, is very interesting and dates from 
the eleventh century. On the north-west side of the cathedral is 
the Bell Tower, or campanile, which is the only English example 
of a detached belfry adjoining a cathedral. Chichester is the 
headquarters of the West Sussex County Council, and has 
extensive corn and cattle markets, (pp. 3, 12, 39, 45, 55, 58, 
60, 65, 76, 77, 78, 84, 88, 89, 91, 93, 95. 99, 'oi, 103, 112, 120, 
121, 122, 128.) 

Cuckfield (1813), two miles west of Haywards Heath, is a 
place of some importance, having beautiful views over the Downs. 
The church is Early English with some good monuments, (pp. 19, 
108, 116.) 

Ditchling (1253) has a fine church, and some good timber- 
built houses in the village. Ditchling Beacon, one of the highest 
points of the Downs, has traces of some ancient camps, perhaps of 
Roman date. (pp. 15, 62.) 

Eastbourne (43,344) is a municipal borough and fashionable 
watering-place. It has more than doubled its population since 
1 88 1, and has many attractive features. It is situated close under 
Beachy Head and is backed by the Downs. The streets are 
broad and lined with trees; the houses are well built of stone; 
and the parade is nearly three miles long. Devonshire Park is 
one of the chief attractions of the. place, and there are several fine 
institutions. The parish church in the old town is ancient, and 
of great interest. The churchyard used to be surrounded by a 
moat. (pp. 26, 36, 37, 43, 52, 57, 61, 69, 71, 85, 87, 88, 91, 
121, 122.) 

Fletching (1088), eight miles north of Lewes, stands on the 
Ouse in the midst of a well-wooded district. Gibbon, the historian, 
often stayed at Sheffield Park and the fine church contains his 
tomb. (p. 126.) 



CHIEF TOWNS AND VILLAGES 133 

Frant (1692), three miles south of Tunbridge Wells, is a 
delightful village on a hill over 600 feet high. Kridge Park, in 
the neighbourhood, is charming and has fine and extensive views. 

Grinstead, East (6094) is a market-town pleasantly 
situated on a hill with a fine view over the Forest Ridge. In the 
High Street are some quaint timber-built houses, and the church 
has a fine tower. Sack^ville College is an old almshouse dating 
from 1609. (PP- I22 » I2 3-^ 

Grinstead, West (1503) is famous for its beautiful park 
and its deer. The church with its shingled spire has some 
Norman work. (p. 128.) 

Hailsham (4197) is a thriving little town seven miles north 
of Eastbourne, with one of the largest cattle and sheep markets in 
Sussex, (p. 58.) 

Hastings (65,528), one of the Cinque Ports, is a popular 
summer resort in East Sussex. St Leonards is joined to Hastings 
by a row of terraces and parades. The ruins of the castle are 
finely situated and the old town beneath the Castle Hill is very 
picturesque with its red-tiled roofs. The harbour lies at the east 
end of the town, and the fishery is of some importance, (pp. 1, 
6, 36, 37, 43, 52, 56, 59, 62, 69, 72, 74, 78, 88, 91, 97, 98, 101, 
102, 121, 128.) 

Hay wards Heath (3717) is a small market-town, and the 
largest cattle sale in Sussex is held here. 

Heathfield (3745) has a good church with a noteworthy 
tower and spire. Heathfield Park is well-wooded and was once 
the residence of General Eliott, the defender of Gibraltar, 
(pp. 19, 54, 83, 97, 125.) 

Horsham (9446) is an old and picturesque market-town on 
a branch of the Arun. It has some trade in corn and timber, 
and the industries include malting and brewing. The church, 



134 SUSSEX 

dating from the time of King John, is noteworthy. Christ's 
Hospital, known as the Bluecoat School, has been established at 
Horsham in a fine pile of buildings, (pp. 7, 15, 18, 58, 59, 61, 
1 10, 1 20, 122,1 23.) 

Hove (29,695) is continuous with Brighton, and contains 
many handsome streets and public buildings. It is a fashionable 
resort, and has the Sussex County Cricket Ground, (pp. 41, 8 8, 
121, 122.) 

Hurstmonceux (1429) has the remains of a red brick 
castle, perhaps the most picturesque ruin in Sussex, (pp. 57, 62, 
103, 125, 127.) 

Hurstpierpoint (3033) is a market-town eight miles north 
of Brighton, (p. 125.) 

Icklesham (1447), about one and a half miles west of 
Winchelsea, has a beautiful church with a Norman tower. 

Lancing (1244) is a sea-bathing resort, about two miles from 
Shoreham. Besides the Norman church Lancing College on the 
hill slope is the chief building, (p. 58.) 

Lewes (1 1,249), a borough and market-town on the Ouse, is 
the county town of Sussex. It is noteworthy as being the scene of 
the battle (1264) between Henry III and Simon de Montfort. 
There are ruins of a castle and of a priory, and some of the old 
houses are interesting. Lewes is an important agricultural centre 
with an annual sheep-fair. (pp. 17, 26, 58, 59, 62, 83, 88, 91, 
97, 99, 101, 103, 121, 122, 126.) 

Littlehampton (5950) is a few miles to the south of 
Arundel of which town it is the port. The town is much 
frequented as a watering-place, and the sands are very extensive. 
(PP- i9> 57, 62, 128.) 

Mayfield (3164), eight miles south of Tunbridge Wells, is 
an interesting little town near the source of the Rother. The 




Petworth Church 



136 SUSSEX 

remains of the palace of the archbishops of Canterbury are note- 
worthy. Mayfield was formerly one of the centres of the Sussex 
iron trade, (pp. 59, 65, 107.) 

Midhurst (1650) is a little market-town on the Rother. At 
its Grammar School Sir Charles Lyell, Richard Cobden, and other 
famous men were educated, (pp. 7, 85, 108, 116, 123, 125, 128.) 

Newhaven (6373) is a seaport town at the mouth of the 
Ouse. It is the chief place of embarkation for Dieppe, and 
steamers also go to Honfleur, Caen, and the Channel Islands. It 
has also considerable trade in corn, coal, and timber, (pp. 19, 42, 
44, 58, 69, 72, 98.) 

Northiam (1024), eight miles north-west of Rye, has a 
church with a remarkable Norman tower. 

Petworth (2503) is a little market-town on the west 
Rother. Its streets are very narrow but there are many good 
houses. Petivortb House is one of the finest mansions in the 
county, and has a rich collection of paintings and statuary, 
(pp. 14, 31, 60, no, 113, 116.) 

Pevensey (468), on the River Ashburn, is a very ancient 
place, and occupies the site of the Roman fortress, Anderida, of 
which the walls remain. The castle, now a picturesque ruin, was 
built soon after the Conquest, (pp. 6, 8, 17, 43, 45, 61, 67, 71, 
73, 76, 83, 87, 89, 98, 101.) 

Portslade-by-Sea (5217) is a modern and well-frequented 
seaside resort on the east side of Shoreham Harbour. The old 
village of Portslade is a short distance inland. 

Pulborough (1725), on the Arun, is an ancient town with a 
large and remarkable church. Many Roman remains have been 
found in -the neighbourhood, and the great Stane Street passed 
through the village, (pp. 61, 62, 95.) 

Rotherfield (6462), near the source of the Rother, stands 
about 500 feet above the sea. A Saxon church was founded here 



CHIEF TOWNS AND VILLAGES 137 

in the eighth century, but the present building is of later date, 
(p. 1 9-) 

Rottingdean (1992), a coast parish and sea-bathing resort, 
is about four miles east of Brighton. The little village is very 
picturesque, and in the church are buried Sir Edward Burne-Jones, 
the painter, and William Black, the novelist, (pp. 42, 128.) 

Rye (3990), an ancient town and Cinque Port, is at the 
mouth of the Rother. It was once a famous seaport, but owing 
to changes in the coast-line the town is now two miles from the 
sea. Rye is quaint and picturesque, and besides a large and 
interesting parish church has a remarkable building, long used 
as a prison, called the Tpres Toiver. Rye has now some trade in 
corn, coal, timber, wool, and hops. (pp. 6, 11, 17, 19, 47, 48, 56, 
57, 58, 68, 69, 72, 74, 84, 105, no, 121, 122, 123.) 

Seaford (2615), at the mouth of the Ouse, was once a 
borough sending two members to Parliament, and also a member 
of the Cinque Ports. The harbour is now completely silted up, 
but the town is of some importance as a seaside resort, (pp. 73, 

Selsey (1258), seven miles south of Chichester, was in 
Saxon times a place of great importance, and the seat of a 
bishopric. A great part of the old town and the site of the 
cathedral were washed away, and the bishop's see was removed to 
Chichester. The people are mainly engaged in the fisheries, 
which are of some value, (pp. 13, 27, 40, 69, 8 8, 93.) 

Shoreham, New (3837) is a seaport at the mouth of the 
Adur, which is here crossed by a suspension bridge. Its church 
is one of the finest in Sussex, and dates from early Norman times. 
New Shoreham has trade with France, Holland, and the north of 
Europe, and there are industries connected with shipbuilding and 
the fisheries, (pp. 16, 19, 41, 56, 57, 69, 72, 95, 98.) 



138 



SUSSEX 



Shoreham, Old (2 8 0, one mile north of New Shoreham, is 
noted for its fine cruciform church, with a central tower, and 
built of flint, (pp. 56, 98.) 

Steyning (1752) is a market-town, five miles north-west of 
Shoreham. The place is of great antiquity, being mentioned in 
King Alfred's Will. The church is interesting and of Norman 
date. Steyning formerly returned two members to Parliament, 
(pp. 19, 91, 123.) 




Farm house, Warnham 



Wadhurst (3232), six miles south-east of Tunbridge Wells, 
has sandstone quarries. Its church is remarkable for its pave- 
ment of about 30 iron grave-stones, (p. 60.) 

Winchelsea (157) is a very ancient town, three miles west 
of Rye. In early times it was a port of great importance, but in 



CHIEF TOWNS AND VILLAGES 139 

the thirteenth century it was destroyed by inundations of the sea. 
Edward I rebuilt it, but owing to the retreat of the sea, it declined, 
and is now only a village with a parish church, (pp. 37, 43, 47, 
55, 68, 69, 72, 74, 95, 97, 98, 99, 107, no, 123, 127.) 

Worth (4297) is famous for its church with a Saxon ground- 
plan which makes it one of the most interesting in England, 
(p. 97.) 

Worthing (16,996), the largest town in west Sussex, has 
risen from a poor fishing-village to a considerable watering-place. 
The climate is mild, and in the neighbourhood are nurseries and 
glasshouses devoted to the cultivation of tomatoes, grapes, etc. for 
the London markets, (pp. 62, 69, 121, 122.) 



140 SUSSEX 



ENGLAND & WALES 
(58,326 square miles) 



Fig. i. Diagram showing the area of Sussex (1459 sq. miles) 
compared with that of England and Wales 



ENGLAND <£ WALES 

(82 ^23,075) 



Fig. 2. Diagram showing the population of Sussex (605,202) 
compared with that of England and Wales 



DIAGRAMS 



141 



1861 


363,735 






1871 


417,456 






1881 


490,505 






1891 


560,446 




1901 


605,202 



Fig. 3. Diagram showing the increase of Sussex 
population from 1861 to 1901 



•• •«••••• 



(*) 558 



(*) 



414 



(0 1070 



Fig. 4. Diagram showing the density of population to a square 
mile in (a) England and Wales, (fi) Sussex, and (c) Lanca- 
shire. Each dot represents 10 people. 



142 



SUSSEX 




Fig. 5. Diagram showing the area under 
Corn Crops in 1905 




Fig. 6. Diagram showing the proportionate areas 
growing Wheat, Barley, and Oats in 1905 



DIAGRAMS 



143 



Permanent Pasture 
416,753 acres 




Area not under 
Permanent Pasture 



Fig. 7. Diagram showing the area under 
Permanent Pasture in 1905 




Fig. 8. Diagram showing the proportionate acreage 
under Crops, Grass, etc., in 1905 



144 



SUSSEX 




Fig. 9. Diagram showing the proportionate number of 
Sheep, Cows and Cattle. Pigs and Horses in Sussex 
in 1905 



CAMBRIDGE: PRINTED BY JOHN CLAY, M.A. AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS. 



GEOLOGICAL MAP OF 

SUSSEX 




The 

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^ 



Owerslipht- SFup 



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T/ie Casubridiie University Prt 



^J Alluvium 

nBracMeaham <fc I — 
Bagshot Beds 
. y , I _J London Clay 

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r land Heading Bed* 
-^ [_^\ Chalk 

_[] Upper Greensand 
Gault 

Lower Greensand 
^j Weald Clay 
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